Stargate Fanfic: Unplanned Parenthood - Chapter Four
Title: Unplanned Parenthood
Author: LexKitten
Chapter: Four - Out of Nowhere
Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three
Summary: “Carter, do you ever get the feeling these alternate universes are trying to tell us something?”
Rating: Teen
A/N: The exciting action chapter! Hooray =P If I survive my law exams, I will post another chapter soon. If I survive ;_;
Many thanks to
windsparrow , lilferret and tardisinthesgc , as usual, for their invaluable beta help! <3
***
“Do you think she’ll be ok?” Sam asked, as she and Jack rode the elevator down to level thirty four.
“She’s with Daniel and Teal’c,” Jack replied. “What could go wrong?”
“A lot of things,” Sam mumbled, biting her lip. She stayed silent for a long minute - she was probably cataloguing all the things that had previously gone wrong in the most secure military base in the world. “It’s just, I felt something strange when we left Daniel’s office. Like something was out of place, or wrong or - I don’t know - I just got this feeling like something bad was going to happen to her.”
Jack couldn’t help smiling. He hadn’t imagined Sam would be an anxious mother - then again, he’d never really imagined her as a mother at all. But he had to admit, the nervous fretting kind of suited her. It was a nice change from the tough air force major act she kept up while on duty. Plus, she had a very cute worried face - all big blue eyes and pursed pink mouth. “Don’t be so over-protective, Carter,” Jack warned her. “She’s going to be fine.”
“And what about us?” asked Sam, chewing on her bottom lip. “Are we going to be fine?”
Jack gave the elevator a cursory scan, checking for timed explosives or hidden assassins. “We’re in no immediate danger, but this is the SGC, so something weird could happen any minute.”
Sam flashed him a little grin. “I meant, are we going to be fine, talking to General Hammond? What are we going to say?”
“We’re going to say we’ve had our two day trial period, and we’ve decided to keep her for good,” Jack replied, as if it really were that simple.
“We?” Sam said, looking incredulously at Jack. “Sir, with all due respect... It’s not like we really have this all worked out.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jack muttered. He didn’t like where this conversation was going. Working things out generally meant talking about things, and Jack was pretty sure he didn’t want to do that. So far he had got away with sneaking into Sam’s life - playing happy families with Henrietta and staying late into the night - without having to admit there was anything untoward between them. If they had to talk about it, Jack would have to face the fact that he was still far too attached to his second in command. And maybe this time he would be forced to do something about it. “Look, her real folks worked it all out, didn’t they?”
“Well, they were probably in a slightly different situation,” Sam said, blushing.
They were probably together, she meant. They probably hadn’t spent the last six years pretending that there was absolutely no attraction between them and that they were nothing more than close colleagues.
Sam looked down at her boots, smiling sheepishly. “I can’t really imagine they were trouping off around the universe with a baby.”
“Maybe the other Carter left her job,” Jack mused aloud. Sara had left her job when Charlie was born. And Jack’s mother had been a fifties house wife. There was something natural to stay-at-home-motherhood in Jack’s mind. Carter might even make a cute housewife, he thought, irresistibly imaging her in an apron with a fresh baked apple pie. Damn, that would be worth seeing…
“What?” Sam asked, her cheeks flushing red again, but this time with annoyance, not with embarrassment. “Why would she do that?”
Jack drew a slow breath in. Clearly, that had not been the right thing to say. “Well, I just meant … being so naturally caring and concerned with others…” he ran a hand backwards through his hair, trying to think of a diplomatic way out of this. “She might have wanted to spend time with her daughter…”
“At the cost of her career?” Sam asked incredulously.
“Well,” Jack said, trying to hurry his thoughts into a coherent sentence. “You could still do equations and run tests or whatever on a laptop from home.”
“Oh, because that’s all that’s involved in being one of the country’s best astrophysicists,” Sam frowned.
“Hey, the world’s best, Carter,” Jack corrected, hoping to flatter his way out of this conversation.
Sam shook her head, uttering a strained sigh, “Would you really expect me to do that?” she asked.
“Carter, I wouldn’t let you leave,” Jack stated, looking her in the eyes to prove his sincerity. “Stargate Command needs you. Heck, the world needs you.” Not to mention, Jack didn’t know what he’d do without her on SG1.
Sam sighed again, softer this time, her anger visibly ebbing away. She stayed quiet though, with her arms crossed protectively over her chest. “I can’t leave my work,” she said. “My whole life is my work. And I know having a child is one of those things that changes your whole life… but… I can’t give it up.” So, that’s what she’s been worried about, Jack thought. All the lip chewing and nervous fiddling was anxiety over choosing between her family and her career.
“You don’t have to,” Jack said firmly. “Hell, like I said, we won’t let you.” He felt like pulling her into his arms, but settled for a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Plenty of people have families and careers. That’s what day-care is for.”
“And when we’re trapped off world for a week at a time?” Sam asked. She fought to keep her voice level, but Jack could see the panic in her eyes.
“We’ll get a baby-sitter,” he said, “Hey, what about your dad? When was the last time the Tok’ra did us a favor?”
Sam gave him a half-hearted smile. She lent her head back against the steel elevator wall and sighed. “We take a risk every time we go through the gate - I know you don‘t like to think about it, but it’s true. And that was fine with me, when it was just my life I had to worry about. But now I keep thinking, what if something goes wrong, what if we get captured or worse… how can we leave her alone like that?”
He knew how she felt. It was the same way he had felt going on covert missions when he was first married, and after Charlie was born. The sudden complication that your life isn‘t the only one you’re risking. There wasn‘t any way to make the feeling go away - but Jack had learnt how to live with it. He knew what she needed to hear. “We make sure we come back,” he said.
The elevator ground to a halt, announcing their arrival with an awkward rumble as the doors slid open. Jack held out his arm, motioning for Sam to go ahead, which she did. She gave him a side-long smile that reached all the way to her sparkling eyes, as they started down the corridor. “You’re pretty good at this, Sir,” she said. “Thanks for um, putting up with me.”
“Ah Carter, it must be a shock to you, not to instantly be top of the motherhood class,” Jack teased. “Has there ever been a thing you weren’t brilliant at before?”
Sam pursed her lips, thinking exaggeratedly. “I got a B in home-ec once.”
“What, did you try and make a power generator out of a casserole?” asked Jack.
“Short-circuited a sewing machine,” Sam grinned.
Laughing, Jack reached out a hand to affectionately ruffle her hair. He caught himself just in time, and forced his arm down limply to his side. All this time alone with her was starting to get to him. It was definitely getting harder to keep his hands off her. He glanced sideways at her face, hoping she hadn’t noticed anything. Sam was frowning again.
“Maybe we should have brought Henrietta with us,” she said. “What are Daniel and Teal’c going to do with her?”
This time, he had to resist the urge to take her in his arms and hug her for being so adorably paranoid. He settled for an amused grin. “Teal’c’s a father, right? I’m sure he knows how to entertain a kid.”
***
“Teal’c, you’re a father,” Daniel cried, pleadingly. “You must know how to entertain a kid.” He made a sudden dive for a fragile Hopi death-mask perched precariously on the edge of his desk, snatching it away from Henrietta’s curious grasp just in time.
“I am afraid I do not, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said, frowning deeply. “Jaffa children learn discipline and respect from birth - they are not as … erratic … as the children of the Tauri.” He glared at Henrietta, who was busily toppling piles of Daniel’s notes, looking for some unknown treasure. “Besides, child-rearing is the work of the mother. A Jaffa is a warrior - skills for entertaining children would serve him poorly in battle.”
Henrietta clambered nimbly up a pile of large symbology encyclopedias stacked on the floor, to pull herself onto Daniel’s examination bench. “Uncle Danny, what does this one do?” she asked, picking up a bundle of intricately entwined bronze coils.
“It doesn’t do anything,” Daniel said, prying it from her hands. He examined the priceless artifact a little more closely. “Oh, well, actually, this one does do something. But I’d rather not show you, because I don’t want you to break it.”
Henrietta had already stopped listening. She crawled along the counter - nearly knocking several priceless artifacts onto the floor as she went - to a pile of haphazardly stacked jars. She picked up one containing bone samples from a tomb discovered on P4X-731, which were yet to be dated. “Can I open this?” she asked, clawing her little fingers under the lid.
“No,” Daniel said, snatching it from her.
“Ok, what about this one?” She asked, selecting another jar.
“No, not that either,” Daniel snapped.
Put off by Daniel’s repeated refusals, Henrietta turned her attention to a nearby box of un-catalogued artifacts. From the depths of the box, she pulled out a carved statuette of a naked warrior. “Ooh, is this an action figure?” she asked loudly. She bent one of the statutes muscled arms back experimentally. It broke off at the shoulder with a clean snap.
Daniel’s mouth fell open in utter horror. “That was a priceless Polynesian fertility totem.”
“Well, it’s not very good if it breaks the first time you play with it,” Henrietta declared. She dropped the broken artifact disinterestedly back into the box, and dove in to find something else to play with. In a rush of panic, Daniel lunged forward and swept her off the bench, holding her arms to her sides to prevent her wandering hands from touching anything else.
“The priceless artifacts aren’t really meant to be played with,” he said, setting her down in front of his desk. He searched through the piles of books, manuscripts, briefings and assorted useless trinkets, fishing out a scrap of blank paper and a green felt tip. “Why don’t you draw something? How about a pretty garden of flowers to show mommy when she comes back? Which will be soon, I hope.”
“No,” Henrietta said, pushing the paper away. “Drawing is lame.”
“Teal’c,” Daniel pleaded again, desperation in his eyes. “Can you give me some help here?”
Teal’c crossed the room in two quick strides and hoisted Henrietta up by her ankle. She hung over the desk, her pony-tale just touching the tallest stack of papers, scowling up at Teal’c. “Henrietta O’Neill, you must stop this mindless destruction,” he said, frowning down at the child. “Daniel Jackson and I would like you to sit quietly and obediently.”
Henrietta folded her arms over her chest and glared up at him. “What happened to you guys? You used to be cool.”
“I believe I remain ‘cool’,” Teal’c replied, bearing his teeth in a smirk. “Though I cannot speak for Daniel Jackson. What is it you would have us play?”
“Hide and Seek,” Henrietta cried at once, wriggling excitedly upside down.
“I am not familiar with such a game,” said Teal’c.
“What?” Henrietta gasped in disbelief. “Oh, it’s the best game ever. And I’m really good at it. It’ll take both of you to find me.”
Daniel jumped quickly at the chance to divert Henrietta’s attention for a while. “Ok, we’ll both count, and you can hide?”
“As you wish, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said. He lowered Henrietta to the floor, deftly flipping her over before she reached the ground so she would land on her feet.
“Ok, close your eyes and count to twenty,” she ordered. Teal’c did as he was told, and Daniel grudgingly followed. They heard the sound of papers shuffling, and metal - a chair maybe - being dragged across the floor. Henrietta giggled, somewhere in the direction of the filing cabinet.
“She sure has Sam’s curiosity,” Daniel muttered quietly, under his breath.
“Indeed,” Teal’c agreed. “It is unfortunate she has also inherited O’Neill’s forcefulness. A most troublesome mix in a child.”
Daniel smirked in agreement, though Teal’c couldn’t see his expression. Daniel let himself relax somewhat in the quiet darkness, glad the relentless attack on his office had abated for the moment. He strained his ears for any sign of Henrietta, but she was deep in hiding.
“Do you find this weird at all?” Daniel asked. “I mean, babysitting Sam and Jack’s … progeny?”
“No,” Teal’c replied firmly.
“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing,” Daniel agreed. “Which is weird in itself - that we’re not at all bothered by the idea they could… you know.”
“That possibility should come as no surprise, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said. “It is common knowledge that they have a great affection for one another.”
Daniel smirked at the Jaffa’s succinct assessment. ‘Common knowledge’ was an understatement. “Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Daniel mused. “What might have been?”
“Indeed,” Teal’c agreed solemnly.
Daniel opened his eyes and looked at his watch. “It’s been almost a minute,” he said. “We better go look for her.”
“We should divide the room to cover more hiding spots,” Teal’c agreed, ever the strategist. “I will take the west side.”
“Uh, sure. I‘ll look over here then,” Daniel agreed, pointing vaguely east. He raised his voice to call to Henrietta, “Ready or not, here we come.”
Daniel started with the most obvious hiding spot - under the desk. But the dark recesses were completely empty. Well, Henrietta was quite a bit smarter than the average four year old, so she probably knew the desk was too obvious. The large storage cupboards under the bench were the next best bet. Daniel opened them each in turn, finding many forgotten half-finished projects and boxes of broken equipment, but no little girls. Behind him, Teal’c was opening each drawer of the filing cabinet just in case she had somehow squeezed into one and pulled it shut.
“She is not on the western side,” Teal’c announced.
“Huh,” Daniel mused. “I can’t find her either…” Daniel re-checked the cupboards, but they were still bare. He scanned the room, wondering where else in the packed office she could have squeezed herself. “Ok Henrietta, we give in,” he called. “Come on out now.”
There was no reply.
Panic started to bubble up in Daniel’s stomach. He spun around, desperately looking for another hiding place. Between the cabinets; under the chair; above the cupboard. But even the most unlikely hiding places were empty. Daniel tried to steady his breathing.
“I do not believe she is here, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said.
“Uh-oh. We lost her? “Daniel moaned. “Jack is going to kill us.”
“I disagree,” Teal’c replied. “Major Carter is a much quicker marksman. O’Neill will not have the opportunity.”
***
General Hammond was on the phone when Jack and Sam arrived. Sam waited politely across the hall, while Jack pressed his ear against the crack in the door in an attempt to eaves drop. Quiet affectionate rumblings trickled out of the General’s office. “I think he’s talking to his grand-daughters,” Jack stage whispered.
Sam grinned at him, “Lucky you have clearance to eaves drop that call. What if it was the President?”
Jack waved his had dismissively at her, “He wouldn’t mind - we’re buddies.”
Sam smirked at him again, “As much as anyone can be ‘buddies’ with the leader of the free world.”
Jack put his finger to his lips, “Shhh, I’m trying to eaves drop here. I think Kayla’s got her first boyfriend.”
“Sir,” Sam admonished, the all purpose title taking on a playfully chiding tone. “I think that’s a personal call.”
“She’s only fourteen!” Jack exclaimed, ignoring Sam’s warning. “And he’s a sophomore? Who does that kid think he is? We should track him down - put the fear of the U.S. Air Force into him.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Is this what you’re going to be like with Henrietta?”
The question threw Jack for a minute. It still shocked him to be reminded he was a father again. Of course, Sam was right, Henrietta was going to grow up - become a teenager, get a boyfriend, hate her parents… she had a whole life ahead of her. A life that Jack and Sam were going to be a part of. The enormity of the responsibility weighed heavy on his shoulders. It was going to take a while to get his head around it all. “I’ll be worse,” he decided, after giving the concept of his little girl with a boyfriend some thought. “I’ll order a Special Forces raid any time she goes on a date.”
“You’re just like my dad,” Sam replied, trying to sound disapproving, but her broad grin giving her away.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Jack said. After all, Jack thought, wasn’t the conventional wisdom that women were attracted to men like their fathers?
The General‘s deep chuckle drew Jack‘s attention back to the office. He murmured warmly to the girl on the other end of the phone, clearly delighting in whatever inconsequential anecdote his granddaughter was telling. “Hey, maybe we could get the General to babysit for us,” Jack suggested.
“The General?” Sam asked. “You mean our Commanding Officer? The man in charge of the most top-secret military operation in the world? That General - as our baby-sitter?”
Jack grinned. “He’s great with kids.”
Before Sam could object to the absurdity of such a proposal, the General’s booming voice echoed from within the office. “Colonel, Major, you can stop whispering in the hallway and come in now.”
They put on their ‘officer faces’ and entered General Hammond’s office. He waved them into two waiting chairs. “At ease, the both of you. How was the break? First one you’ve had in a while.”
“Uh, great,” Sam said, her tone a little nervous. She looked at Jack, clearly hoping he’d take the lead. They hadn’t really agreed how much they were going to confess to General Hammond. Not that they had actually broken any rules - bended maybe, but not broken. Still, he wasn’t about to explain everything to the General.
“Yup, it was fine,” Jack agreed, not elaborating.
The General nodded approvingly, seemingly unaware of any silent communication passing between his officers. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of an official appointment? Usually I have to drag you in here, Jack,” he quipped.
“We’d like to have Henrietta’s legal status formalized,” Jack barreled in, hoping bravado would last him through the awkward conversation.
“If the President is willing to grant her refugee status,” Sam added hastily.
“He is, of course,” General Hammond said. He addressed Sam when he replied. “I take it that you’re intending to take permanent custody of her, then?” Sam nodded. The General smiled warmly, clearly pleased with her decision. “We can of course have legal documentation made for her - so that she can be enrolled in school and such. Given the rather unusual circumstance, I think it is open to you to choose whether you would like to be listed as her natural parent, or her legal guardian.”
“Parents,” Jack said at once.
“Guardians, Sir,” Sam corrected him quickly. They looked at each other - Sam was blushing again.
“Well, we are, aren’t we?” Jack argued.
“Yes, but that would make a rather interesting cross-reference with my medical records for the last five years,” Sam countered.
It took Jack a few seconds to decode what she was saying. “Oh,” he said loudly as realisation dawned. In this universe, Sam had never been pregnant. “Legal guardians then,” Jack agreed.
General Hammond looked from Jack to Sam and back again, his brow slowly crinkling in confusion. “You’d both like to be her legal guardians?” he asked slowly. Damn, Jack thought. He had hoped the General wouldn’t ask too many questions. But after all, Henrietta was technically the property of the U.S. Air force. What happened to her was going to be a matter of national security. “Forgive me, Jack, but I thought Major Carter had decided to take custody of her.”
“She will,” Jack said. “But I could see her on weekends, split the holidays; you know how these joint-custody things go.” He grinned winningly at the General, who didn’t smile back. As usual, he didn’t share Jack’s sense of humour.
General Hammond frowned, processing this unexpected turn. “Well, I suppose … you do have as much biological claim to her as Major Carter,” he said slowly. He sighed heavily, looking down at his desk. Jack could almost see the cogs of his brain ticking over; trying to decipher what hidden changes had taken place between his officers. “And you would both continue as members of SG1?” he asked, finding a diplomatic way to get to what was worrying him.
Both Sam and Jack opened their mouths, but no sound came out. Sam looked at Jack - mirroring his expression of bewilderment. How could they explain to the General what was going on, if they couldn’t really explain it to themselves? Before either of them had to attempt a stuttered answer, a suddenly blast of noise interrupted the awkward silence.
“UNAUTHORISED OFF-WORLD ACTIVATION,” the automated alarm boomed over the com system. Almost immediately it was followed by a second alarm, “CODE RED. CODE RED.”
The three officers jumped to their feet. Code Red - something had gone wrong in the control room. General Hammond barreled out of his office; Jack and Sam right after him. Red lights spun up all around them. The entire base was on alert. Levels above them, automated doors were locking them inside the mountain with whatever intruder had caused the alarm. The three officers barged into the chaotic control room, amid a clutter of confused and worried cries.
“Lieutenant, situation report,” General Hammond barked to the head technician on duty.
“Unauthorized activation, Sir, no IDC,” he replied breathlessly. “We can’t get the Iris closed. The computers aren’t responding to our commands.”
Hearing her cue, Sam made a bolt for the command computer. Her fingers drummed over the keys faster than Jack could follow. A red warning flashed up on the screen - ‘ACCESS DENIED’. “We’re getting an over-ride signal, Sir,” Sam reported. “It’s coming from inside the base. I’ll try to isolate the command point.”
“Order a complete lock-down,” General Hammond barked. “No one moves till I say so.” A waiting airman dashed to the com phone to carry out his orders.
There was a great electronic wheeze overhead, and the power cut out. Backup generators blinked into life, bathing the room in a red haze. “Someone’s taken the main power generators off-line,” Sam said, still frantically tapping away at the keys. “I’m trying to over-ride it, but we’ve been locked out.”
“Gate’s still on,” Jack observed. They all looked up towards the massive glowing pool. Below, a dozen Airmen were crouched at the ready, guns pointed at whatever was on the other side of the wormhole.
“Sir, I’m getting some kind of massive energy pulse,” Sam said, her wide eyes flickering to the gate room scanners. “I can’t isolate it, but it could be radiation.”
“I want those men out of there,” General Hammond ordered. He grabbed the com mic and barked into it, “This is General Hammond. All personnel evacuate the embarkation room. I repeat, evacuate the embarkation room.” The bewildered airmen scrabbled to retreat from the unknown assault.
“Seal the embarkation room completely. All available airmen to guard it,” Hammond instructed. “Something could still come through that wormhole. Major Carter, we need that Iris closed.”
Sam slammed a hand against the keyboard in frustration. “I can’t override the computers, Sir,” she said. She looked back at General Hammond with a mixture of panic and pleading on her face. “I think I have an idea, but it’s risky.”
“Like all your other brilliant ideas,” Jack said.
“What do you want to do, Major?” General Hammond asked.
“Shut down the entire system, and re-boot from the root files,” she advised.
Sergeant Harriman actually gasped in shock. “Are you serious, Major?”
“Very,” Sam replied. She looked at General Hammond, with that fierce determined look in her eyes that never failed to convince her CO’s that she was their only hope. “It’ll leave us completely unprotected for about forty five seconds, but it’s the only way I’ll be able to regain control of the system in time to close the Iris.”
Before General Hammond could reply, Daniel and Teal’c burst into the room. Daniel was breathing heavily, his eyes wide in panic. Teal’c was alert and ready for orders. But only one fact registered in Jack’s mind - they were alone. Henrietta was nowhere in sight. Jack looked at Sam - their faces both paralysed in a look of utter panic. Then he snapped his head back around to Daniel and Teal’c. “Where is she?” he shouted.
“We don’t know,” Daniel breathed. “She disappeared. We thought she was with you.”
“Well she’s not!” Jack roared. “Don’t you tell me you lost my daughter when the base is in Code Red?” Absolute panic was taking hold. Jack’s heart slammed against his ribs; his lungs contracted in on themselves; his stomach boiled threatening to send bile shooting up his throat. Inside his head, the same sickening image pounded at his skull: Henrietta lying alone, cold, dead. He almost choked with rage, trying to force another strangled cry from his throat. “Where is she?”
“Colonel!” General Hammond barked.
But it was Sam’s voice that made him stop. “Jack,” she mouthed, her voice barely a whisper. He spun around to see her frozen, looking out through the huge glass panel into the gate room. She detached one shaking hand from the command keyboard and lifted it up to the glass. He looked through the glass to where she was pointing, into the deserted gate room, and saw what had made her freeze - just at the bottom of the ramp, a little figure in blue with a long blond pony-tail was holding tight to the rail and gazing up at the gate. “Jack,” Sam breathed, “she’s in the gate room.”
Jack rushed forward, pressing his nose up against the glass. “Damnit!” he swore.
“We locked her in there,” she whispered.
Jack spun around, grabbing Sam by the shoulders and turning her to face him. “She’s going to be ok,” he said. “I’m going to go get her.”
“I should go,” Sam protested. Her eyes were wide with fright, her face a sickly white.
“You have to stay here,” he said. He stared fiercely into her eyes. “You need to fix the computers. I won‘t let anything happen to her.”
She took a ragged breath in and nodded. “Ok,” she said. She turned to the General. “Sir, I need to reboot the system.”
“You have my permission,” he said. Before the words had even left his mouth, Sam was on her knees, wrenching open the control panel to expose the motherboard of the system. She flipped the manual power switch, and every screen in the room went blank.
Jack didn’t hesitate a moment longer. He grabbed a sidearm off Lieutenant Harriman’s waist and made a bolt for the door.
“Colonel!” General Hammond called in alarm, “the room’s been sealed. You can‘t go down there!”
“Like hell I can’t,” Jack snapped. He charged past Daniel and Teal’c, taking the stairs two at a time. The corridor below was swarming with airmen, their guns cocked at the reinforced iron door. “Outta my way,” Jack boomed. A few of them jumped at the sound of his voice, scuttling out of his way. Those that stood their ground, Jack shoved roughly to the ground. The only thought in his mind was getting to Henrietta, and getting her the hell out of there. “Open that door,” he barked at the head officer.
“The room’s sealed,” the hapless airman replied. “I can’t let you in, Sir.”
Jack grabbed him by the front of the shirt. “You locked my daughter in there,” he snarled.
“Sir?” the airman asked in confusion.
“A little girl: blond, blue eyes, completely helpless - you locked her in there,” Jack snapped. The airman opened his mouth to protest again, but Jack threw him aside with a growl. “Hell, I’ll do it myself.” He wrenched open the control panel for the door and punched in his security code. The heavy steel rumbled up slowly.
“At the ready,” the head officer called to his men.
Jack ducked under the door as soon as there was space. He scanned the room, but there was still no sign that anything had come through the open gate. Henrietta was at the bottom of the ramp, gazing up at the Stargate. She took a tentative step towards it. “Henry!” Jack hissed.
“Daddy!” She gasped in surprise. She turned around, grinning guiltily, still holding tightly to the ramp railing.
“Come here,” he called, trying to keep his voice calm so as not to scare her.
Her face fell. “But, I wanna go through the ’gate,” she protested. “You and mommy get to go, but I’ve never been.”
Jack took a few steps towards her. “Another time,” he promised. “But right now you have to come with me.”
“Fine,” she sighed, bowing to her father‘s authority. She took a few steps down off the ramp. Jack rushed forwards to grab her, and as he did, a strange sick feeling welled up in his head. He could sense something - something familiar, something he knew didn’t belong - just out of reach. He didn’t wait for his conscious mind to identify what it was. It was bad, it was close, and Henrietta was still in danger. He made a run for her, crossing the wide room in seconds. As he reached her, the Iris spun closed over the gate, shutting out the blue light and plunging the room into darkness. Sam had done her job.
“Daddy?” Henrietta squeaked, suddenly afraid without the light.
Jack groped for her in the darkness, grabbing hold of her little arm. “Hey, I’m here.” He pulled her into his arms, shielding her body with his own. The door was still half open on the other side of the room. Jack made a run for it, feeling the invisible presence hot on his heels. They reached the opening at the same time, Jack sliding backwards to slip under the small opening. “Shut the damn door!” he yelled at the assembled airmen with their rifles leveled at him.
The officer by the door slammed his fist on the close button, sending the door rumbling down to the ground. But it was too late - Jack felt the presence rush past him. “Shoot it! Shoot it!” he pointed wildly down the corridor, in the direction he could sense the thing moving.
“Shoot what?” the head officer asked, looking around in panic.
“There’s a thing,” Jack roared. “It’s that way!”
A few men turned and fired off randomly, bullets ricocheting off the walls. But it was useless. Whatever it was had escaped.
***
Continued in: Chapter 5 - Unwelcome Advances
Author: LexKitten
Chapter: Four - Out of Nowhere
Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three
Summary: “Carter, do you ever get the feeling these alternate universes are trying to tell us something?”
Rating: Teen
A/N: The exciting action chapter! Hooray =P If I survive my law exams, I will post another chapter soon. If I survive ;_;
Many thanks to
windsparrow , lilferret and tardisinthesgc , as usual, for their invaluable beta help! <3
***
“Do you think she’ll be ok?” Sam asked, as she and Jack rode the elevator down to level thirty four.
“She’s with Daniel and Teal’c,” Jack replied. “What could go wrong?”
“A lot of things,” Sam mumbled, biting her lip. She stayed silent for a long minute - she was probably cataloguing all the things that had previously gone wrong in the most secure military base in the world. “It’s just, I felt something strange when we left Daniel’s office. Like something was out of place, or wrong or - I don’t know - I just got this feeling like something bad was going to happen to her.”
Jack couldn’t help smiling. He hadn’t imagined Sam would be an anxious mother - then again, he’d never really imagined her as a mother at all. But he had to admit, the nervous fretting kind of suited her. It was a nice change from the tough air force major act she kept up while on duty. Plus, she had a very cute worried face - all big blue eyes and pursed pink mouth. “Don’t be so over-protective, Carter,” Jack warned her. “She’s going to be fine.”
“And what about us?” asked Sam, chewing on her bottom lip. “Are we going to be fine?”
Jack gave the elevator a cursory scan, checking for timed explosives or hidden assassins. “We’re in no immediate danger, but this is the SGC, so something weird could happen any minute.”
Sam flashed him a little grin. “I meant, are we going to be fine, talking to General Hammond? What are we going to say?”
“We’re going to say we’ve had our two day trial period, and we’ve decided to keep her for good,” Jack replied, as if it really were that simple.
“We?” Sam said, looking incredulously at Jack. “Sir, with all due respect... It’s not like we really have this all worked out.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jack muttered. He didn’t like where this conversation was going. Working things out generally meant talking about things, and Jack was pretty sure he didn’t want to do that. So far he had got away with sneaking into Sam’s life - playing happy families with Henrietta and staying late into the night - without having to admit there was anything untoward between them. If they had to talk about it, Jack would have to face the fact that he was still far too attached to his second in command. And maybe this time he would be forced to do something about it. “Look, her real folks worked it all out, didn’t they?”
“Well, they were probably in a slightly different situation,” Sam said, blushing.
They were probably together, she meant. They probably hadn’t spent the last six years pretending that there was absolutely no attraction between them and that they were nothing more than close colleagues.
Sam looked down at her boots, smiling sheepishly. “I can’t really imagine they were trouping off around the universe with a baby.”
“Maybe the other Carter left her job,” Jack mused aloud. Sara had left her job when Charlie was born. And Jack’s mother had been a fifties house wife. There was something natural to stay-at-home-motherhood in Jack’s mind. Carter might even make a cute housewife, he thought, irresistibly imaging her in an apron with a fresh baked apple pie. Damn, that would be worth seeing…
“What?” Sam asked, her cheeks flushing red again, but this time with annoyance, not with embarrassment. “Why would she do that?”
Jack drew a slow breath in. Clearly, that had not been the right thing to say. “Well, I just meant … being so naturally caring and concerned with others…” he ran a hand backwards through his hair, trying to think of a diplomatic way out of this. “She might have wanted to spend time with her daughter…”
“At the cost of her career?” Sam asked incredulously.
“Well,” Jack said, trying to hurry his thoughts into a coherent sentence. “You could still do equations and run tests or whatever on a laptop from home.”
“Oh, because that’s all that’s involved in being one of the country’s best astrophysicists,” Sam frowned.
“Hey, the world’s best, Carter,” Jack corrected, hoping to flatter his way out of this conversation.
Sam shook her head, uttering a strained sigh, “Would you really expect me to do that?” she asked.
“Carter, I wouldn’t let you leave,” Jack stated, looking her in the eyes to prove his sincerity. “Stargate Command needs you. Heck, the world needs you.” Not to mention, Jack didn’t know what he’d do without her on SG1.
Sam sighed again, softer this time, her anger visibly ebbing away. She stayed quiet though, with her arms crossed protectively over her chest. “I can’t leave my work,” she said. “My whole life is my work. And I know having a child is one of those things that changes your whole life… but… I can’t give it up.” So, that’s what she’s been worried about, Jack thought. All the lip chewing and nervous fiddling was anxiety over choosing between her family and her career.
“You don’t have to,” Jack said firmly. “Hell, like I said, we won’t let you.” He felt like pulling her into his arms, but settled for a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Plenty of people have families and careers. That’s what day-care is for.”
“And when we’re trapped off world for a week at a time?” Sam asked. She fought to keep her voice level, but Jack could see the panic in her eyes.
“We’ll get a baby-sitter,” he said, “Hey, what about your dad? When was the last time the Tok’ra did us a favor?”
Sam gave him a half-hearted smile. She lent her head back against the steel elevator wall and sighed. “We take a risk every time we go through the gate - I know you don‘t like to think about it, but it’s true. And that was fine with me, when it was just my life I had to worry about. But now I keep thinking, what if something goes wrong, what if we get captured or worse… how can we leave her alone like that?”
He knew how she felt. It was the same way he had felt going on covert missions when he was first married, and after Charlie was born. The sudden complication that your life isn‘t the only one you’re risking. There wasn‘t any way to make the feeling go away - but Jack had learnt how to live with it. He knew what she needed to hear. “We make sure we come back,” he said.
The elevator ground to a halt, announcing their arrival with an awkward rumble as the doors slid open. Jack held out his arm, motioning for Sam to go ahead, which she did. She gave him a side-long smile that reached all the way to her sparkling eyes, as they started down the corridor. “You’re pretty good at this, Sir,” she said. “Thanks for um, putting up with me.”
“Ah Carter, it must be a shock to you, not to instantly be top of the motherhood class,” Jack teased. “Has there ever been a thing you weren’t brilliant at before?”
Sam pursed her lips, thinking exaggeratedly. “I got a B in home-ec once.”
“What, did you try and make a power generator out of a casserole?” asked Jack.
“Short-circuited a sewing machine,” Sam grinned.
Laughing, Jack reached out a hand to affectionately ruffle her hair. He caught himself just in time, and forced his arm down limply to his side. All this time alone with her was starting to get to him. It was definitely getting harder to keep his hands off her. He glanced sideways at her face, hoping she hadn’t noticed anything. Sam was frowning again.
“Maybe we should have brought Henrietta with us,” she said. “What are Daniel and Teal’c going to do with her?”
This time, he had to resist the urge to take her in his arms and hug her for being so adorably paranoid. He settled for an amused grin. “Teal’c’s a father, right? I’m sure he knows how to entertain a kid.”
***
“Teal’c, you’re a father,” Daniel cried, pleadingly. “You must know how to entertain a kid.” He made a sudden dive for a fragile Hopi death-mask perched precariously on the edge of his desk, snatching it away from Henrietta’s curious grasp just in time.
“I am afraid I do not, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said, frowning deeply. “Jaffa children learn discipline and respect from birth - they are not as … erratic … as the children of the Tauri.” He glared at Henrietta, who was busily toppling piles of Daniel’s notes, looking for some unknown treasure. “Besides, child-rearing is the work of the mother. A Jaffa is a warrior - skills for entertaining children would serve him poorly in battle.”
Henrietta clambered nimbly up a pile of large symbology encyclopedias stacked on the floor, to pull herself onto Daniel’s examination bench. “Uncle Danny, what does this one do?” she asked, picking up a bundle of intricately entwined bronze coils.
“It doesn’t do anything,” Daniel said, prying it from her hands. He examined the priceless artifact a little more closely. “Oh, well, actually, this one does do something. But I’d rather not show you, because I don’t want you to break it.”
Henrietta had already stopped listening. She crawled along the counter - nearly knocking several priceless artifacts onto the floor as she went - to a pile of haphazardly stacked jars. She picked up one containing bone samples from a tomb discovered on P4X-731, which were yet to be dated. “Can I open this?” she asked, clawing her little fingers under the lid.
“No,” Daniel said, snatching it from her.
“Ok, what about this one?” She asked, selecting another jar.
“No, not that either,” Daniel snapped.
Put off by Daniel’s repeated refusals, Henrietta turned her attention to a nearby box of un-catalogued artifacts. From the depths of the box, she pulled out a carved statuette of a naked warrior. “Ooh, is this an action figure?” she asked loudly. She bent one of the statutes muscled arms back experimentally. It broke off at the shoulder with a clean snap.
Daniel’s mouth fell open in utter horror. “That was a priceless Polynesian fertility totem.”
“Well, it’s not very good if it breaks the first time you play with it,” Henrietta declared. She dropped the broken artifact disinterestedly back into the box, and dove in to find something else to play with. In a rush of panic, Daniel lunged forward and swept her off the bench, holding her arms to her sides to prevent her wandering hands from touching anything else.
“The priceless artifacts aren’t really meant to be played with,” he said, setting her down in front of his desk. He searched through the piles of books, manuscripts, briefings and assorted useless trinkets, fishing out a scrap of blank paper and a green felt tip. “Why don’t you draw something? How about a pretty garden of flowers to show mommy when she comes back? Which will be soon, I hope.”
“No,” Henrietta said, pushing the paper away. “Drawing is lame.”
“Teal’c,” Daniel pleaded again, desperation in his eyes. “Can you give me some help here?”
Teal’c crossed the room in two quick strides and hoisted Henrietta up by her ankle. She hung over the desk, her pony-tale just touching the tallest stack of papers, scowling up at Teal’c. “Henrietta O’Neill, you must stop this mindless destruction,” he said, frowning down at the child. “Daniel Jackson and I would like you to sit quietly and obediently.”
Henrietta folded her arms over her chest and glared up at him. “What happened to you guys? You used to be cool.”
“I believe I remain ‘cool’,” Teal’c replied, bearing his teeth in a smirk. “Though I cannot speak for Daniel Jackson. What is it you would have us play?”
“Hide and Seek,” Henrietta cried at once, wriggling excitedly upside down.
“I am not familiar with such a game,” said Teal’c.
“What?” Henrietta gasped in disbelief. “Oh, it’s the best game ever. And I’m really good at it. It’ll take both of you to find me.”
Daniel jumped quickly at the chance to divert Henrietta’s attention for a while. “Ok, we’ll both count, and you can hide?”
“As you wish, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said. He lowered Henrietta to the floor, deftly flipping her over before she reached the ground so she would land on her feet.
“Ok, close your eyes and count to twenty,” she ordered. Teal’c did as he was told, and Daniel grudgingly followed. They heard the sound of papers shuffling, and metal - a chair maybe - being dragged across the floor. Henrietta giggled, somewhere in the direction of the filing cabinet.
“She sure has Sam’s curiosity,” Daniel muttered quietly, under his breath.
“Indeed,” Teal’c agreed. “It is unfortunate she has also inherited O’Neill’s forcefulness. A most troublesome mix in a child.”
Daniel smirked in agreement, though Teal’c couldn’t see his expression. Daniel let himself relax somewhat in the quiet darkness, glad the relentless attack on his office had abated for the moment. He strained his ears for any sign of Henrietta, but she was deep in hiding.
“Do you find this weird at all?” Daniel asked. “I mean, babysitting Sam and Jack’s … progeny?”
“No,” Teal’c replied firmly.
“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing,” Daniel agreed. “Which is weird in itself - that we’re not at all bothered by the idea they could… you know.”
“That possibility should come as no surprise, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said. “It is common knowledge that they have a great affection for one another.”
Daniel smirked at the Jaffa’s succinct assessment. ‘Common knowledge’ was an understatement. “Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Daniel mused. “What might have been?”
“Indeed,” Teal’c agreed solemnly.
Daniel opened his eyes and looked at his watch. “It’s been almost a minute,” he said. “We better go look for her.”
“We should divide the room to cover more hiding spots,” Teal’c agreed, ever the strategist. “I will take the west side.”
“Uh, sure. I‘ll look over here then,” Daniel agreed, pointing vaguely east. He raised his voice to call to Henrietta, “Ready or not, here we come.”
Daniel started with the most obvious hiding spot - under the desk. But the dark recesses were completely empty. Well, Henrietta was quite a bit smarter than the average four year old, so she probably knew the desk was too obvious. The large storage cupboards under the bench were the next best bet. Daniel opened them each in turn, finding many forgotten half-finished projects and boxes of broken equipment, but no little girls. Behind him, Teal’c was opening each drawer of the filing cabinet just in case she had somehow squeezed into one and pulled it shut.
“She is not on the western side,” Teal’c announced.
“Huh,” Daniel mused. “I can’t find her either…” Daniel re-checked the cupboards, but they were still bare. He scanned the room, wondering where else in the packed office she could have squeezed herself. “Ok Henrietta, we give in,” he called. “Come on out now.”
There was no reply.
Panic started to bubble up in Daniel’s stomach. He spun around, desperately looking for another hiding place. Between the cabinets; under the chair; above the cupboard. But even the most unlikely hiding places were empty. Daniel tried to steady his breathing.
“I do not believe she is here, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said.
“Uh-oh. We lost her? “Daniel moaned. “Jack is going to kill us.”
“I disagree,” Teal’c replied. “Major Carter is a much quicker marksman. O’Neill will not have the opportunity.”
***
General Hammond was on the phone when Jack and Sam arrived. Sam waited politely across the hall, while Jack pressed his ear against the crack in the door in an attempt to eaves drop. Quiet affectionate rumblings trickled out of the General’s office. “I think he’s talking to his grand-daughters,” Jack stage whispered.
Sam grinned at him, “Lucky you have clearance to eaves drop that call. What if it was the President?”
Jack waved his had dismissively at her, “He wouldn’t mind - we’re buddies.”
Sam smirked at him again, “As much as anyone can be ‘buddies’ with the leader of the free world.”
Jack put his finger to his lips, “Shhh, I’m trying to eaves drop here. I think Kayla’s got her first boyfriend.”
“Sir,” Sam admonished, the all purpose title taking on a playfully chiding tone. “I think that’s a personal call.”
“She’s only fourteen!” Jack exclaimed, ignoring Sam’s warning. “And he’s a sophomore? Who does that kid think he is? We should track him down - put the fear of the U.S. Air Force into him.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Is this what you’re going to be like with Henrietta?”
The question threw Jack for a minute. It still shocked him to be reminded he was a father again. Of course, Sam was right, Henrietta was going to grow up - become a teenager, get a boyfriend, hate her parents… she had a whole life ahead of her. A life that Jack and Sam were going to be a part of. The enormity of the responsibility weighed heavy on his shoulders. It was going to take a while to get his head around it all. “I’ll be worse,” he decided, after giving the concept of his little girl with a boyfriend some thought. “I’ll order a Special Forces raid any time she goes on a date.”
“You’re just like my dad,” Sam replied, trying to sound disapproving, but her broad grin giving her away.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Jack said. After all, Jack thought, wasn’t the conventional wisdom that women were attracted to men like their fathers?
The General‘s deep chuckle drew Jack‘s attention back to the office. He murmured warmly to the girl on the other end of the phone, clearly delighting in whatever inconsequential anecdote his granddaughter was telling. “Hey, maybe we could get the General to babysit for us,” Jack suggested.
“The General?” Sam asked. “You mean our Commanding Officer? The man in charge of the most top-secret military operation in the world? That General - as our baby-sitter?”
Jack grinned. “He’s great with kids.”
Before Sam could object to the absurdity of such a proposal, the General’s booming voice echoed from within the office. “Colonel, Major, you can stop whispering in the hallway and come in now.”
They put on their ‘officer faces’ and entered General Hammond’s office. He waved them into two waiting chairs. “At ease, the both of you. How was the break? First one you’ve had in a while.”
“Uh, great,” Sam said, her tone a little nervous. She looked at Jack, clearly hoping he’d take the lead. They hadn’t really agreed how much they were going to confess to General Hammond. Not that they had actually broken any rules - bended maybe, but not broken. Still, he wasn’t about to explain everything to the General.
“Yup, it was fine,” Jack agreed, not elaborating.
The General nodded approvingly, seemingly unaware of any silent communication passing between his officers. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of an official appointment? Usually I have to drag you in here, Jack,” he quipped.
“We’d like to have Henrietta’s legal status formalized,” Jack barreled in, hoping bravado would last him through the awkward conversation.
“If the President is willing to grant her refugee status,” Sam added hastily.
“He is, of course,” General Hammond said. He addressed Sam when he replied. “I take it that you’re intending to take permanent custody of her, then?” Sam nodded. The General smiled warmly, clearly pleased with her decision. “We can of course have legal documentation made for her - so that she can be enrolled in school and such. Given the rather unusual circumstance, I think it is open to you to choose whether you would like to be listed as her natural parent, or her legal guardian.”
“Parents,” Jack said at once.
“Guardians, Sir,” Sam corrected him quickly. They looked at each other - Sam was blushing again.
“Well, we are, aren’t we?” Jack argued.
“Yes, but that would make a rather interesting cross-reference with my medical records for the last five years,” Sam countered.
It took Jack a few seconds to decode what she was saying. “Oh,” he said loudly as realisation dawned. In this universe, Sam had never been pregnant. “Legal guardians then,” Jack agreed.
General Hammond looked from Jack to Sam and back again, his brow slowly crinkling in confusion. “You’d both like to be her legal guardians?” he asked slowly. Damn, Jack thought. He had hoped the General wouldn’t ask too many questions. But after all, Henrietta was technically the property of the U.S. Air force. What happened to her was going to be a matter of national security. “Forgive me, Jack, but I thought Major Carter had decided to take custody of her.”
“She will,” Jack said. “But I could see her on weekends, split the holidays; you know how these joint-custody things go.” He grinned winningly at the General, who didn’t smile back. As usual, he didn’t share Jack’s sense of humour.
General Hammond frowned, processing this unexpected turn. “Well, I suppose … you do have as much biological claim to her as Major Carter,” he said slowly. He sighed heavily, looking down at his desk. Jack could almost see the cogs of his brain ticking over; trying to decipher what hidden changes had taken place between his officers. “And you would both continue as members of SG1?” he asked, finding a diplomatic way to get to what was worrying him.
Both Sam and Jack opened their mouths, but no sound came out. Sam looked at Jack - mirroring his expression of bewilderment. How could they explain to the General what was going on, if they couldn’t really explain it to themselves? Before either of them had to attempt a stuttered answer, a suddenly blast of noise interrupted the awkward silence.
“UNAUTHORISED OFF-WORLD ACTIVATION,” the automated alarm boomed over the com system. Almost immediately it was followed by a second alarm, “CODE RED. CODE RED.”
The three officers jumped to their feet. Code Red - something had gone wrong in the control room. General Hammond barreled out of his office; Jack and Sam right after him. Red lights spun up all around them. The entire base was on alert. Levels above them, automated doors were locking them inside the mountain with whatever intruder had caused the alarm. The three officers barged into the chaotic control room, amid a clutter of confused and worried cries.
“Lieutenant, situation report,” General Hammond barked to the head technician on duty.
“Unauthorized activation, Sir, no IDC,” he replied breathlessly. “We can’t get the Iris closed. The computers aren’t responding to our commands.”
Hearing her cue, Sam made a bolt for the command computer. Her fingers drummed over the keys faster than Jack could follow. A red warning flashed up on the screen - ‘ACCESS DENIED’. “We’re getting an over-ride signal, Sir,” Sam reported. “It’s coming from inside the base. I’ll try to isolate the command point.”
“Order a complete lock-down,” General Hammond barked. “No one moves till I say so.” A waiting airman dashed to the com phone to carry out his orders.
There was a great electronic wheeze overhead, and the power cut out. Backup generators blinked into life, bathing the room in a red haze. “Someone’s taken the main power generators off-line,” Sam said, still frantically tapping away at the keys. “I’m trying to over-ride it, but we’ve been locked out.”
“Gate’s still on,” Jack observed. They all looked up towards the massive glowing pool. Below, a dozen Airmen were crouched at the ready, guns pointed at whatever was on the other side of the wormhole.
“Sir, I’m getting some kind of massive energy pulse,” Sam said, her wide eyes flickering to the gate room scanners. “I can’t isolate it, but it could be radiation.”
“I want those men out of there,” General Hammond ordered. He grabbed the com mic and barked into it, “This is General Hammond. All personnel evacuate the embarkation room. I repeat, evacuate the embarkation room.” The bewildered airmen scrabbled to retreat from the unknown assault.
“Seal the embarkation room completely. All available airmen to guard it,” Hammond instructed. “Something could still come through that wormhole. Major Carter, we need that Iris closed.”
Sam slammed a hand against the keyboard in frustration. “I can’t override the computers, Sir,” she said. She looked back at General Hammond with a mixture of panic and pleading on her face. “I think I have an idea, but it’s risky.”
“Like all your other brilliant ideas,” Jack said.
“What do you want to do, Major?” General Hammond asked.
“Shut down the entire system, and re-boot from the root files,” she advised.
Sergeant Harriman actually gasped in shock. “Are you serious, Major?”
“Very,” Sam replied. She looked at General Hammond, with that fierce determined look in her eyes that never failed to convince her CO’s that she was their only hope. “It’ll leave us completely unprotected for about forty five seconds, but it’s the only way I’ll be able to regain control of the system in time to close the Iris.”
Before General Hammond could reply, Daniel and Teal’c burst into the room. Daniel was breathing heavily, his eyes wide in panic. Teal’c was alert and ready for orders. But only one fact registered in Jack’s mind - they were alone. Henrietta was nowhere in sight. Jack looked at Sam - their faces both paralysed in a look of utter panic. Then he snapped his head back around to Daniel and Teal’c. “Where is she?” he shouted.
“We don’t know,” Daniel breathed. “She disappeared. We thought she was with you.”
“Well she’s not!” Jack roared. “Don’t you tell me you lost my daughter when the base is in Code Red?” Absolute panic was taking hold. Jack’s heart slammed against his ribs; his lungs contracted in on themselves; his stomach boiled threatening to send bile shooting up his throat. Inside his head, the same sickening image pounded at his skull: Henrietta lying alone, cold, dead. He almost choked with rage, trying to force another strangled cry from his throat. “Where is she?”
“Colonel!” General Hammond barked.
But it was Sam’s voice that made him stop. “Jack,” she mouthed, her voice barely a whisper. He spun around to see her frozen, looking out through the huge glass panel into the gate room. She detached one shaking hand from the command keyboard and lifted it up to the glass. He looked through the glass to where she was pointing, into the deserted gate room, and saw what had made her freeze - just at the bottom of the ramp, a little figure in blue with a long blond pony-tail was holding tight to the rail and gazing up at the gate. “Jack,” Sam breathed, “she’s in the gate room.”
Jack rushed forward, pressing his nose up against the glass. “Damnit!” he swore.
“We locked her in there,” she whispered.
Jack spun around, grabbing Sam by the shoulders and turning her to face him. “She’s going to be ok,” he said. “I’m going to go get her.”
“I should go,” Sam protested. Her eyes were wide with fright, her face a sickly white.
“You have to stay here,” he said. He stared fiercely into her eyes. “You need to fix the computers. I won‘t let anything happen to her.”
She took a ragged breath in and nodded. “Ok,” she said. She turned to the General. “Sir, I need to reboot the system.”
“You have my permission,” he said. Before the words had even left his mouth, Sam was on her knees, wrenching open the control panel to expose the motherboard of the system. She flipped the manual power switch, and every screen in the room went blank.
Jack didn’t hesitate a moment longer. He grabbed a sidearm off Lieutenant Harriman’s waist and made a bolt for the door.
“Colonel!” General Hammond called in alarm, “the room’s been sealed. You can‘t go down there!”
“Like hell I can’t,” Jack snapped. He charged past Daniel and Teal’c, taking the stairs two at a time. The corridor below was swarming with airmen, their guns cocked at the reinforced iron door. “Outta my way,” Jack boomed. A few of them jumped at the sound of his voice, scuttling out of his way. Those that stood their ground, Jack shoved roughly to the ground. The only thought in his mind was getting to Henrietta, and getting her the hell out of there. “Open that door,” he barked at the head officer.
“The room’s sealed,” the hapless airman replied. “I can’t let you in, Sir.”
Jack grabbed him by the front of the shirt. “You locked my daughter in there,” he snarled.
“Sir?” the airman asked in confusion.
“A little girl: blond, blue eyes, completely helpless - you locked her in there,” Jack snapped. The airman opened his mouth to protest again, but Jack threw him aside with a growl. “Hell, I’ll do it myself.” He wrenched open the control panel for the door and punched in his security code. The heavy steel rumbled up slowly.
“At the ready,” the head officer called to his men.
Jack ducked under the door as soon as there was space. He scanned the room, but there was still no sign that anything had come through the open gate. Henrietta was at the bottom of the ramp, gazing up at the Stargate. She took a tentative step towards it. “Henry!” Jack hissed.
“Daddy!” She gasped in surprise. She turned around, grinning guiltily, still holding tightly to the ramp railing.
“Come here,” he called, trying to keep his voice calm so as not to scare her.
Her face fell. “But, I wanna go through the ’gate,” she protested. “You and mommy get to go, but I’ve never been.”
Jack took a few steps towards her. “Another time,” he promised. “But right now you have to come with me.”
“Fine,” she sighed, bowing to her father‘s authority. She took a few steps down off the ramp. Jack rushed forwards to grab her, and as he did, a strange sick feeling welled up in his head. He could sense something - something familiar, something he knew didn’t belong - just out of reach. He didn’t wait for his conscious mind to identify what it was. It was bad, it was close, and Henrietta was still in danger. He made a run for her, crossing the wide room in seconds. As he reached her, the Iris spun closed over the gate, shutting out the blue light and plunging the room into darkness. Sam had done her job.
“Daddy?” Henrietta squeaked, suddenly afraid without the light.
Jack groped for her in the darkness, grabbing hold of her little arm. “Hey, I’m here.” He pulled her into his arms, shielding her body with his own. The door was still half open on the other side of the room. Jack made a run for it, feeling the invisible presence hot on his heels. They reached the opening at the same time, Jack sliding backwards to slip under the small opening. “Shut the damn door!” he yelled at the assembled airmen with their rifles leveled at him.
The officer by the door slammed his fist on the close button, sending the door rumbling down to the ground. But it was too late - Jack felt the presence rush past him. “Shoot it! Shoot it!” he pointed wildly down the corridor, in the direction he could sense the thing moving.
“Shoot what?” the head officer asked, looking around in panic.
“There’s a thing,” Jack roared. “It’s that way!”
A few men turned and fired off randomly, bullets ricocheting off the walls. But it was useless. Whatever it was had escaped.
***
Continued in: Chapter 5 - Unwelcome Advances