NeverEnding 4/?
A/N: Ok, sorry this took forever to get up... Midterms came up in the form of portfolio reviews and I just basically had to stop everything that wasn't art. Anyways, this chapter finally got written and the rest should come up pretty regurally for awhile.
Thanks for waiting and I hope you enjoy! Cause, so far, this was the hardest chapter to write (also the longest at 8 pages) and any mistakes are mine .
NeverEnding 4/?
Title: Helpless
Author: Chozen Rogue
Rating: Teen; language, sexuality, character death
Characters: Jack/Sam; Team; Landry; Thor
Summary: What if Jack was on the Odyssey during the events of “Unending?”
Spoilers: Unending (Duh!); 1x22 Within the Serpents Grasp & 2x16 The Fifth Race
Disclaimer: Stargate: SG-1 belongs to MGM, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Films. I just took the characters out for a spin.
Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3
THE ORI ATTACK
General Landry was met by the sound of the proximity alarm going off as he entered the bridge. Major Marks turned to the General as he took position in the command chair and said, “Sir, three Ori ships just dropped out of hyper space and are approaching the planet.”
Before Landry could reply, the ship rocked violently as the Ori began to fire.
Back in the control room, Sam and Thor grabbed the Asgard console as the ship shook from the hit; her suddenly wide eyes caught sight of Jack’s. He had braced himself in the doorway and was looking at her in confusion.
“What the hell was that?!” He asked her.
Leaving Thor, Sam crossed over to the sensors as Landry’s voice filtered in over com channel. “Colonel this is the bridge; we have three contacts.” Sam began to check the ship’s system as the General continued, “Ori mother ships bearing down.”
Reading the information being displayed on her screen, she said, “Sir, the hyper drive is still offline; diverting power to the shields.”
From behind her, Thor’s voice was thick with urgency, “You must go.”
“No!”
At the sound of O’Neill’s yell, Sam whipped around to see him grab hold of Thor as they were both beamed off the ship in a white haze. As she stood there staring at the spot where the two had been moments before, Sam couldn’t help the fear settling in the pit of her stomach.
****
As soon as the odd sensation of transporter dissipated, Jack opened his eyes to find Thor staring back at him with what could only have been described as fear. “What have you done? Why have you followed?”
Jack glared back at him, “I’m not letting you go through with this! You’re supposed to be there for us; we’re not ready to be on our own!”
Sadly, Thor replied, “You do not understand. We cannot continue to guide and protect you in our current state.” He quickly crossed to a panel which was placed before a window showing the scrawling expanse of Orilla; he would miss this planet, this life. Most of all, he would miss this human, this man who was always needing help to get out of the trouble that he had somehow caused, his friend. “You are now capable of doing those things yourself; you are much more advanced than you would believe.”
“I don’t believe that and neither do you! You selfish son of a bitch, this doesn’t make any sense; you don’t have to do this! Just give us a chance to help you! To let others help you!”
Ignoring the human’s pleas and desperate excuses, Thor turned to Jack, who was now directly behind him and handed him a leather bound volume that had been laying on top the console. “I had hoped to give you this during the banquet we had planned for this evening but we have not the time now.”
Taking the book from Thor’s hand with his, suddenly numb, fingers, Jack stared at it and then his eyes snapped wildly to Thor’s. He could feel his body begin to hum with the building of energy, the tell-tale sign that told him he was about to be beamed off the planet.
No, there still had to be some way to stop them from doing this! He knew that once he was off the planet, they’d do something drastic to ensure none of their technology fell to the Ori.
The last thing he heard, as his body was beamed off the planet, was Thor’s final words: “Read and understand, O’Neill.”
****
Finally, Sam tore her eyes from the spot Thor and O’Neill had been. “Sir, the Asgard just disembarked,” Sam lowered her head and then added, “General O’Neill was with them.”
Back on the bridge, Landry closed his eyes and sighed heavily; why was Jack always pulling stunts like this? “There’s nothing we can do about that, Colonel. I’m sorry.”
Sam kicked the bottom of the console in frustration and then took a deep breath as Landry’s voice came back over the com. “How long until we can jump to hyperspace?”
Forcing Jack to the back of her mind, she turned her attaention back to the situation at hand. “It will take a few minutes to get the hyper drive back online,” she replied as she rushed over to the station that controlled the engines.
Landry turned to Major Marks and ordered, “Full sub light. Get us clear of the planet.”
The Major looked at the General and said hesitantly, “But sir, General O’Neill?”
“General O’Neill made his decision, let’s honor it son.” Landry eyed the planet shown through the windows before him. “Now Major, get us clear.”
Marks nodded and turned back to his screens. “Full sub light!”
As the Odyssey moved away from the planet, the Ori ships fired at the fleeing ship. The shields took the brunt of the blasts as Teal’c and Mitchell entered the bridge, both having to the brace themselves as the ship shook.
“Shields are down to 83%!”
Ignoring the Major’s information, Mitchell grabbed onto the helm and asked, “How the hell did they find us?” The shields withstood another blast, the ship shuddering under their feet in response, “Is there some reason we're not jumping into hyperspace?
“Carter's working on it,” Landry replied, the tension clear in his voice.
Reading his screen, Marks suddenly said, “Sir, sensors are detecting a massive build up of energy coming from the planet.
The General felt his jaw tighten before he yelled, “Everyone hold on tight!”
In the control room, Sam braced herself. She wasn’t sure if it was Landry’s yell over the speaker or the fact that Jack was still on the planet; she felt the bile start to rise in her throat.
Time seem to stop as she watched the planet seem to expand, the sound of the transporter barely reaching her ears. As Orilla exploded into a million pieces of jagged rock, Jack threw himself into the window that was in front her console, startling Sam as he pounded the glass, “God dammit, no!”
She watched as his body seemed to crumple with an imaginary weight, sliding down the wall to land heavily on the floor. Even as the ship was rocked violently by the shockwave caused by the explosion, Sam still wasn’t sure she believed he was there. “Sir?”
At her barely audible question, he raised his eyes to hers; they were rimmed with red and she was sure that she could see wet trails down his face.
“Colonel!”
It took a few moments for Landry’s voice to register but as soon as it did, Sam tore her eyes from the broken man before her and to the screen of her console. “Sir, the hyper drive is now online but we have to get clear of the radiation caused by the explosion before we can make the jump safely.” Her eyes drifted back to Jack, who was still on the floor staring at her with an empty gaze; he was starting to scare her. “And Sir... General O’Neill is back on board.”
A barely audible ‘thank god’ came through and then Landry said, “Thank you, Colonel, but how about the Asgard energy weapons?”
“They haven't been tested yet, sir.” Sam closed her eyes at the slight note of anxiety now coating her voice. When she reopened them, Jack was wiping the back of his hand against his face as he raised himself off the ground and started towards her. He had only taken two steps before he was thrown into the control console as the ship took two more hits; his torso coming into contact hard against the metal.
“Well that’s gonna leave a mark,” he grumbled as he clutched at his side.
Sam blinked. It scared her that he could make a joke so soon after having seen him breakdown but it still filled her with a sense of hope. Hope that he would make it through this... That they all would.
****
On the bridge, Major Marks read the updated information on his console. “Shields are down to 28%. At Maximum sub light we're 47 seconds to get clear.”
“We're not gonna make it,” Cameron deadpanned, earning him a stern look from Landry.
The General turned to Marks and said, “Let's see what these new Asgard upgrades are made of. Come about.”
The Odyssey banked and began to move toward the rear of the Ori ships. “Power the energy weapons.”
At the General’s order, Marks looked down at his console and quickly pressed a button, “Energy weapons are powered.”
“Fire!”
True to the Major’s mark, all four energy beams hit one of the Ori ships, “Sensors indicate enemy shields are fluctuating.”
Smiling slightly at the news, Landry ordered, “Keep firing.”
The Odyssey kept issuing the blue beams as the Ori’s shields started to fail. Soon the ship was enveloped in flames as it exploded, the suddenness of it causing the bridge crew of the Odyssey to reel back in shock.
“I'll be damned...” Landry traded looks with the Major sitting next to him and smiled.
Mitchell moved towards the front of the bridge, shock still etched on his face, “We got them.” Cam blinked in confusion; his pessimistic nature not quite believing how easy the fight had been.
“Get us into hyperspace.”
“Yes sir,” the Major was all too happy to comply.
****
When the doors of the elevator slid open and revealed a haggard looking Jack O’Neill and an equally tired Samantha Carter, Landry couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them both. But now was not the time for such emotions; the Odyssey had been damaged to the point where the General was afraid of whether or not they could make it to Earth in their condition.
“Run another diagnostic.” At Sam’s order, the technician, who she had been talking with in the tube, hurried away and she turned to face Landry as he addressed the two.
“General; Colonel.” Landry addressed Sam as the three turned and walked in the direction of the control room. “How's that report coming? I wanna be able to brief the president as soon as we get back,” Landry turned to look back at Jack, who had fallen behind them, “he's gonna want to know how quickly we can duplicate this new Asgard weaponry.”
“Don’t worry about briefing him Hank; I’ll do it.”
Landry smiled slightly at the other General till his attention turned back to Carter, who was speaking, “I’m working on it, sir, but something else has come up.”
The three came to a stop and both Generals turned to face Sam. “The hyper drive diagnostic is spitting out some data that's concerning me.”
“We took some damage that's causing a problem?”
Sam shook her head slightly at Landry’s query, “I think we need to drop out and run a few tests just to be sure.”
“Carter,” she turned to Jack, who was looking at her with an intense gaze, “we just got our asses kicked by a bunch of Ori; the entire fleet might be looking for us. Is there any way we could make it to Earth in our condition?”
“No, sir. I wouldn’t be suggesting it if it were just a routine anomaly.” She looked at both men before adding, “Sirs, if we push the hyper drive in its present shape, not knowing if it’s damaged or not, we’re risking it and this ship.”
Sighing, Jack turned to Landry, “Guess we’re taking a detour.”
****
Jack felt the subtle kick from the engines as the Odyssey dropped out of hyper space. It was times like these that he couldn’t help but remember the first time he had felt that sensation. Of course, this time he wasn’t being held hostage by goa’uld and wasn’t going face first into a peltak; his handling of the change in speed had definitely gotten better over the years.
“So, how long did Carter say the diagnostic was going to take?”
Landry looked up at him and was about to respond when Major Marks suddenly caught both of their attention with, “Sir, two contacts just appeared on sensors. Mother-ships. Ori. Closing fast.”
The General turned back to look up at Jack as the other man threw his hands up in the air. “Ok, when I said there was a possibility that we could run into them again, I meant different ships, ones on patrol!”
Shaking his head in frustration, Landry hit the button for the com and patched through to the control room, “Colonel, given we've already taken damage, I'd rather not take on two more ships.” At this, the Odyssey seized under their feet as the shields took hits issued by both of the Ori mother ships.
“I think they’re planning on doing that, regardless of what you’re feelings are on the subject, Hank.”
Landry ignored Jack’s smart-ass comment as Sam’s voice filtered through the com. “Sir the hyper drive is back online.”
“Get us back into hyperspace!”
The urgency in General Landry’s voice was palpable as Marks keyed in the commands for the Odyssey to enter hyperspace. “Yes, sir.”
****
Jack watched as Mitchell stalked around the table, “It's a hell of a coincidence, don't ya think?”
Sitting down next to Landry, Sam faced Cam as he came around from behind her, “Well, unless they were tracking us and just waiting for us to drop out...” She couldn’t help but look across the table at O’Neill; he had been the one who had brought up the situation when she had requested that they dropped out of hyperspace. He raised an eyebrow and she quickly averted her eyes.
“I thought they couldn't track us in hyperspace?”
“Unless it was the Ori themselves tipping off the Priors.” Everyone turned to stare as Vala spun lazily in her chair.
Staring at the odd woman next to him, Jack said, “You know, I think she might have a point.”
Pointedly ignoring Vala’s behavior, Daniel shook his head. “We've already passed back into the Milky Way. As far as we know, the Ancients should have a problem with the Ori using their ascended powers right under their noses.”
Jack and Sam both said, “As far as we know.” They shot each other confused looks that quickly turned into bemused smiles; even after all the years outside of combat, they could still read the other’s thoughts.
Cam shrugged his shoulders, “At least we now have weapons we know will destroy an Ori Ship.”
“Well that's not going to do us any good if they can track us where ever we go.” Turning her attention to General Landry, Sam continued, “I mean, eventually the Odyssey's gonna come up against more than she can handle.”
Jack held up a hand as he leaned forward. “If she hasn’t already. At the moment, we’re only at half of our maximum shield capacity; we can’t take another run-in with those ships.”
Teal’c tilted his head in agreement with O’Neill’s assessment and then asked, “Is it possible the Priors can detect the new technology given to us by the Asgard, without the help of the Ori?”
Sam thought over for a moment, slowly going over the upgrades the Asgard had given them before she replied. “I suppose the new power source could be giving off some sort of unique energy signature that's detectable from subspace. However without further experimentation the only way to find out is to shut it off and see if that stops the Ori from following us.”
“Do it,” Landry said without hesitation.
Sam winced, boy were they going to love what she was about to tell them. “The problem with that, sir, is that the new Asgard core is currently tied into every system on this ship.” She could feel every single person in the room stare her in confusion, “We would have to drop out of hyperspace and isolate the core from the hyper drive controls.”
Pausing for a moment, she added, “And that could take some time.”
Landry, along with Vala whose chair made a grinding sounded as she twirled in it too harshly, both sighed in frustration. Cam, Daniel, and Teal’c traded looks of unease, while Jack’s head fell heavily against the back of his hands that were resting on top of the table.
Time wasn’t exactly a luxury they had at the moment.
__________________________________________________
Leave a review and tell me how I did; this was a damn hard chapter to write! lol
Continue to Chapter 5
Thanks for waiting and I hope you enjoy! Cause, so far, this was the hardest chapter to write (also the longest at 8 pages) and any mistakes are mine .
NeverEnding 4/?
Title: Helpless
Author: Chozen Rogue
Rating: Teen; language, sexuality, character death
Characters: Jack/Sam; Team; Landry; Thor
Summary: What if Jack was on the Odyssey during the events of “Unending?”
Spoilers: Unending (Duh!); 1x22 Within the Serpents Grasp & 2x16 The Fifth Race
Disclaimer: Stargate: SG-1 belongs to MGM, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Films. I just took the characters out for a spin.
Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3
THE ORI ATTACK
General Landry was met by the sound of the proximity alarm going off as he entered the bridge. Major Marks turned to the General as he took position in the command chair and said, “Sir, three Ori ships just dropped out of hyper space and are approaching the planet.”
Before Landry could reply, the ship rocked violently as the Ori began to fire.
Back in the control room, Sam and Thor grabbed the Asgard console as the ship shook from the hit; her suddenly wide eyes caught sight of Jack’s. He had braced himself in the doorway and was looking at her in confusion.
“What the hell was that?!” He asked her.
Leaving Thor, Sam crossed over to the sensors as Landry’s voice filtered in over com channel. “Colonel this is the bridge; we have three contacts.” Sam began to check the ship’s system as the General continued, “Ori mother ships bearing down.”
Reading the information being displayed on her screen, she said, “Sir, the hyper drive is still offline; diverting power to the shields.”
From behind her, Thor’s voice was thick with urgency, “You must go.”
“No!”
At the sound of O’Neill’s yell, Sam whipped around to see him grab hold of Thor as they were both beamed off the ship in a white haze. As she stood there staring at the spot where the two had been moments before, Sam couldn’t help the fear settling in the pit of her stomach.
****
As soon as the odd sensation of transporter dissipated, Jack opened his eyes to find Thor staring back at him with what could only have been described as fear. “What have you done? Why have you followed?”
Jack glared back at him, “I’m not letting you go through with this! You’re supposed to be there for us; we’re not ready to be on our own!”
Sadly, Thor replied, “You do not understand. We cannot continue to guide and protect you in our current state.” He quickly crossed to a panel which was placed before a window showing the scrawling expanse of Orilla; he would miss this planet, this life. Most of all, he would miss this human, this man who was always needing help to get out of the trouble that he had somehow caused, his friend. “You are now capable of doing those things yourself; you are much more advanced than you would believe.”
“I don’t believe that and neither do you! You selfish son of a bitch, this doesn’t make any sense; you don’t have to do this! Just give us a chance to help you! To let others help you!”
Ignoring the human’s pleas and desperate excuses, Thor turned to Jack, who was now directly behind him and handed him a leather bound volume that had been laying on top the console. “I had hoped to give you this during the banquet we had planned for this evening but we have not the time now.”
Taking the book from Thor’s hand with his, suddenly numb, fingers, Jack stared at it and then his eyes snapped wildly to Thor’s. He could feel his body begin to hum with the building of energy, the tell-tale sign that told him he was about to be beamed off the planet.
No, there still had to be some way to stop them from doing this! He knew that once he was off the planet, they’d do something drastic to ensure none of their technology fell to the Ori.
The last thing he heard, as his body was beamed off the planet, was Thor’s final words: “Read and understand, O’Neill.”
****
Finally, Sam tore her eyes from the spot Thor and O’Neill had been. “Sir, the Asgard just disembarked,” Sam lowered her head and then added, “General O’Neill was with them.”
Back on the bridge, Landry closed his eyes and sighed heavily; why was Jack always pulling stunts like this? “There’s nothing we can do about that, Colonel. I’m sorry.”
Sam kicked the bottom of the console in frustration and then took a deep breath as Landry’s voice came back over the com. “How long until we can jump to hyperspace?”
Forcing Jack to the back of her mind, she turned her attaention back to the situation at hand. “It will take a few minutes to get the hyper drive back online,” she replied as she rushed over to the station that controlled the engines.
Landry turned to Major Marks and ordered, “Full sub light. Get us clear of the planet.”
The Major looked at the General and said hesitantly, “But sir, General O’Neill?”
“General O’Neill made his decision, let’s honor it son.” Landry eyed the planet shown through the windows before him. “Now Major, get us clear.”
Marks nodded and turned back to his screens. “Full sub light!”
As the Odyssey moved away from the planet, the Ori ships fired at the fleeing ship. The shields took the brunt of the blasts as Teal’c and Mitchell entered the bridge, both having to the brace themselves as the ship shook.
“Shields are down to 83%!”
Ignoring the Major’s information, Mitchell grabbed onto the helm and asked, “How the hell did they find us?” The shields withstood another blast, the ship shuddering under their feet in response, “Is there some reason we're not jumping into hyperspace?
“Carter's working on it,” Landry replied, the tension clear in his voice.
Reading his screen, Marks suddenly said, “Sir, sensors are detecting a massive build up of energy coming from the planet.
The General felt his jaw tighten before he yelled, “Everyone hold on tight!”
In the control room, Sam braced herself. She wasn’t sure if it was Landry’s yell over the speaker or the fact that Jack was still on the planet; she felt the bile start to rise in her throat.
Time seem to stop as she watched the planet seem to expand, the sound of the transporter barely reaching her ears. As Orilla exploded into a million pieces of jagged rock, Jack threw himself into the window that was in front her console, startling Sam as he pounded the glass, “God dammit, no!”
She watched as his body seemed to crumple with an imaginary weight, sliding down the wall to land heavily on the floor. Even as the ship was rocked violently by the shockwave caused by the explosion, Sam still wasn’t sure she believed he was there. “Sir?”
At her barely audible question, he raised his eyes to hers; they were rimmed with red and she was sure that she could see wet trails down his face.
“Colonel!”
It took a few moments for Landry’s voice to register but as soon as it did, Sam tore her eyes from the broken man before her and to the screen of her console. “Sir, the hyper drive is now online but we have to get clear of the radiation caused by the explosion before we can make the jump safely.” Her eyes drifted back to Jack, who was still on the floor staring at her with an empty gaze; he was starting to scare her. “And Sir... General O’Neill is back on board.”
A barely audible ‘thank god’ came through and then Landry said, “Thank you, Colonel, but how about the Asgard energy weapons?”
“They haven't been tested yet, sir.” Sam closed her eyes at the slight note of anxiety now coating her voice. When she reopened them, Jack was wiping the back of his hand against his face as he raised himself off the ground and started towards her. He had only taken two steps before he was thrown into the control console as the ship took two more hits; his torso coming into contact hard against the metal.
“Well that’s gonna leave a mark,” he grumbled as he clutched at his side.
Sam blinked. It scared her that he could make a joke so soon after having seen him breakdown but it still filled her with a sense of hope. Hope that he would make it through this... That they all would.
****
On the bridge, Major Marks read the updated information on his console. “Shields are down to 28%. At Maximum sub light we're 47 seconds to get clear.”
“We're not gonna make it,” Cameron deadpanned, earning him a stern look from Landry.
The General turned to Marks and said, “Let's see what these new Asgard upgrades are made of. Come about.”
The Odyssey banked and began to move toward the rear of the Ori ships. “Power the energy weapons.”
At the General’s order, Marks looked down at his console and quickly pressed a button, “Energy weapons are powered.”
“Fire!”
True to the Major’s mark, all four energy beams hit one of the Ori ships, “Sensors indicate enemy shields are fluctuating.”
Smiling slightly at the news, Landry ordered, “Keep firing.”
The Odyssey kept issuing the blue beams as the Ori’s shields started to fail. Soon the ship was enveloped in flames as it exploded, the suddenness of it causing the bridge crew of the Odyssey to reel back in shock.
“I'll be damned...” Landry traded looks with the Major sitting next to him and smiled.
Mitchell moved towards the front of the bridge, shock still etched on his face, “We got them.” Cam blinked in confusion; his pessimistic nature not quite believing how easy the fight had been.
“Get us into hyperspace.”
“Yes sir,” the Major was all too happy to comply.
****
When the doors of the elevator slid open and revealed a haggard looking Jack O’Neill and an equally tired Samantha Carter, Landry couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them both. But now was not the time for such emotions; the Odyssey had been damaged to the point where the General was afraid of whether or not they could make it to Earth in their condition.
“Run another diagnostic.” At Sam’s order, the technician, who she had been talking with in the tube, hurried away and she turned to face Landry as he addressed the two.
“General; Colonel.” Landry addressed Sam as the three turned and walked in the direction of the control room. “How's that report coming? I wanna be able to brief the president as soon as we get back,” Landry turned to look back at Jack, who had fallen behind them, “he's gonna want to know how quickly we can duplicate this new Asgard weaponry.”
“Don’t worry about briefing him Hank; I’ll do it.”
Landry smiled slightly at the other General till his attention turned back to Carter, who was speaking, “I’m working on it, sir, but something else has come up.”
The three came to a stop and both Generals turned to face Sam. “The hyper drive diagnostic is spitting out some data that's concerning me.”
“We took some damage that's causing a problem?”
Sam shook her head slightly at Landry’s query, “I think we need to drop out and run a few tests just to be sure.”
“Carter,” she turned to Jack, who was looking at her with an intense gaze, “we just got our asses kicked by a bunch of Ori; the entire fleet might be looking for us. Is there any way we could make it to Earth in our condition?”
“No, sir. I wouldn’t be suggesting it if it were just a routine anomaly.” She looked at both men before adding, “Sirs, if we push the hyper drive in its present shape, not knowing if it’s damaged or not, we’re risking it and this ship.”
Sighing, Jack turned to Landry, “Guess we’re taking a detour.”
****
Jack felt the subtle kick from the engines as the Odyssey dropped out of hyper space. It was times like these that he couldn’t help but remember the first time he had felt that sensation. Of course, this time he wasn’t being held hostage by goa’uld and wasn’t going face first into a peltak; his handling of the change in speed had definitely gotten better over the years.
“So, how long did Carter say the diagnostic was going to take?”
Landry looked up at him and was about to respond when Major Marks suddenly caught both of their attention with, “Sir, two contacts just appeared on sensors. Mother-ships. Ori. Closing fast.”
The General turned back to look up at Jack as the other man threw his hands up in the air. “Ok, when I said there was a possibility that we could run into them again, I meant different ships, ones on patrol!”
Shaking his head in frustration, Landry hit the button for the com and patched through to the control room, “Colonel, given we've already taken damage, I'd rather not take on two more ships.” At this, the Odyssey seized under their feet as the shields took hits issued by both of the Ori mother ships.
“I think they’re planning on doing that, regardless of what you’re feelings are on the subject, Hank.”
Landry ignored Jack’s smart-ass comment as Sam’s voice filtered through the com. “Sir the hyper drive is back online.”
“Get us back into hyperspace!”
The urgency in General Landry’s voice was palpable as Marks keyed in the commands for the Odyssey to enter hyperspace. “Yes, sir.”
****
Jack watched as Mitchell stalked around the table, “It's a hell of a coincidence, don't ya think?”
Sitting down next to Landry, Sam faced Cam as he came around from behind her, “Well, unless they were tracking us and just waiting for us to drop out...” She couldn’t help but look across the table at O’Neill; he had been the one who had brought up the situation when she had requested that they dropped out of hyperspace. He raised an eyebrow and she quickly averted her eyes.
“I thought they couldn't track us in hyperspace?”
“Unless it was the Ori themselves tipping off the Priors.” Everyone turned to stare as Vala spun lazily in her chair.
Staring at the odd woman next to him, Jack said, “You know, I think she might have a point.”
Pointedly ignoring Vala’s behavior, Daniel shook his head. “We've already passed back into the Milky Way. As far as we know, the Ancients should have a problem with the Ori using their ascended powers right under their noses.”
Jack and Sam both said, “As far as we know.” They shot each other confused looks that quickly turned into bemused smiles; even after all the years outside of combat, they could still read the other’s thoughts.
Cam shrugged his shoulders, “At least we now have weapons we know will destroy an Ori Ship.”
“Well that's not going to do us any good if they can track us where ever we go.” Turning her attention to General Landry, Sam continued, “I mean, eventually the Odyssey's gonna come up against more than she can handle.”
Jack held up a hand as he leaned forward. “If she hasn’t already. At the moment, we’re only at half of our maximum shield capacity; we can’t take another run-in with those ships.”
Teal’c tilted his head in agreement with O’Neill’s assessment and then asked, “Is it possible the Priors can detect the new technology given to us by the Asgard, without the help of the Ori?”
Sam thought over for a moment, slowly going over the upgrades the Asgard had given them before she replied. “I suppose the new power source could be giving off some sort of unique energy signature that's detectable from subspace. However without further experimentation the only way to find out is to shut it off and see if that stops the Ori from following us.”
“Do it,” Landry said without hesitation.
Sam winced, boy were they going to love what she was about to tell them. “The problem with that, sir, is that the new Asgard core is currently tied into every system on this ship.” She could feel every single person in the room stare her in confusion, “We would have to drop out of hyperspace and isolate the core from the hyper drive controls.”
Pausing for a moment, she added, “And that could take some time.”
Landry, along with Vala whose chair made a grinding sounded as she twirled in it too harshly, both sighed in frustration. Cam, Daniel, and Teal’c traded looks of unease, while Jack’s head fell heavily against the back of his hands that were resting on top of the table.
Time wasn’t exactly a luxury they had at the moment.
__________________________________________________
Leave a review and tell me how I did; this was a damn hard chapter to write! lol
Continue to Chapter 5