"A Sure Thing" by partly
Title: A Sure Thing
Author: partly
Rating/Warning: PG -- none
Spoilers: None
Your recipient: Regan / regan_x
Request details:
Wants: (1) Team interaction and friendship
(2) Something of both Scientist Sam and Soldier Sam if possible.
(3) Humour isn't essential but a little would be nice.
Doesn't want: (1) The death of a major character
(2) Cameron Mitchell
(3) An unhappy ending
A Sure Thing
Samantha Carter ignored the chaos around as she paused to study her options. The green field was flat and unblemished; she could study the entire layout from her vantage point. It didn't look good. Right now she had the advantage, but she needed to be very careful. She couldn't afford to miss.
The shots were tricky but she could make them, she just didn't like them. She couldn't shake the feeling that she overlooked something, that there was a better option than the three shots she'd planned out. There was a rustle of movement beside her as Daniel moved, waiting for her to act. She took a deep breath, lined up her shot.
And stood.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud, Carter. Take the shot already. Our steaks will be here any minute." Colonel Jack O'Neill's voice cut across the din of O'Malley's Bar and Grill and pulled Sam's attention away from the pool table.
"Yes, sir," she answered automatically. "It's just that..." She shrugged and smiled. Something was missing. She could feel it.
"The flyboy's right, honey." Sam's opponent, Leroy, if the softball jersey he wore could be believed, leaned on his cue and took another swig of his beer. "We ain't got all night."
Sam bristled but managed to bite back the retort that sprang to mind. This was the first time SG1 had been allowed back into O'Malley's in the six months since they'd gotten into a brawl. Sam had no intention of getting banned again, at least not this soon.
"It'll be just a minute, sir." Sam surveyed the pool table again as she looked for the perfect shot. After a moment, she looked back up at the colonel. "I'm just not sure if I should--"
"Hey," Leroy waved his beer her way and stepped between her and the colonel. "No help from the peanut gallery. If you can't take the shot, you shouldn't have tried to play with the big boys."
Sam froze at the comment. Colonel O'Neill took a small step toward her and Daniel frowned and set down his glass. She gave a small shake of her head at them and breathed through the initial, irrational recklessness that pushed at her. One would think she would be beyond the need to prove herself to anyone, especially some drunk redneck in a bar. But the challenge ate at her and she wanted nothing more than to shove his drink down his throat. She'd settle for winning the game.
A waitress appeared by Col. O'Neill's side. "You table is ready, sir. If you'd follow me, please."
Sam looked away from the colonel and back at the table, quickly running through all her options. Leroy might be a jerk, but he was good with a stick, which is why she chose to play a game against him in the first place. If he got the shot, he' win.
Sam heard the waitress start to walk away and then pause when no one followed her. "Should I bring the steaks out now?" she asked. Sam listened, but she didn't hear the colonel answer. She knew he wanted her to make a move.
"Might as well have her bring them out, darlin'," Leroy said when no one else spoke. "The game's over as soon as I can sink the eight ball. Do you plan on takin' a shot or are you just gonna stand there lookin' pretty?"
Sam spun and pointed the cue at Leroy. Her threat died on her tongue, though, when the colonel stepped in front of her. "Just take the shot, Carter. Then you can stand around and look pretty."
Sam glared at his grin. She counted to ten and spun to study the table again. The colonel was right. Win the game and nothing else would matter. She should just shoot.
But she didn't want to. There was something else there, some other shot. A perfect shot. She could feel it.
Leroy set his beer on the end of the table and leaned over it, his hand dropping casually to the money that sat on the edge. "Just gonna call it then? Hell, I'll even buy you a round."
Close to $200 sat on the table, the result of doubling down two previous wins. She had no intention of walking away from it. She couldn't help it just felt wrong. There had to be a better shot, if only she could find it. A small, annoying voice in the back of her head kept saying that she couldn't make it and that's why she didn't want to shoot.
"Carter?" Col. O'Neill's voice, quiet as it was, cut through the din of the bar. It was almost one syllable the way he said it; short, clipped and to the point. It was the tone he always used when he wanted an answer, some indication that she had a course of action planned. It was the way he always sounded when he expected her to come up with an answer that would save them all.
He never seemed to appreciate how difficult it really was. Why did he expect her to be able to--
And she saw it. The shot she'd been looking for. It was laid out in front of her: all the angles clear and precise. She could almost see chalk marks and formulas scrawled on the pristine felt that showed how perfect the shot really was. If she hit it two degrees to the right and half-way down, giving it just the right amount of spin, the cue ball would almost dance across the table. If she hit it with just the right amount of force it would carry to all three balls before the eight ball fell into the right side pocket. It would be beautiful.
"We can add the drinks to the bet if you want." She used her cue to tap the side pocket. "Eight ball." She leaned down to line up the shot.
"Carter?" It was Col. O'Neill again. This time her name was definitely two syllables, the first one almost a drawl and the last a quick question. He was looking for reassurance now, some sign that she wasn't as crazy as he thought she was. It was his "I-can't-believe-you're-doing-this" voice, his "I'm-this-close-to-ordering-you-to-stop" voice.
"It's under control, sir." She spoke without looking up. "One shot and we can eat."
"One shot?" Leroy laughed. "Aw, girl, you're dreamin'. Ain't no one can make those three balls in one shot."
Sam stopped in mid-backswing but before she could answer him, Col. O'Neill spoke. "Really? How 'bout a little side bet on that? Say, for twice the amount on the table?"
Sam's glare sifted from Leroy to Col. O'Neill. Just what the hell did he think he was doing?
Leroy smiled. "You got a bet, flyboy. And just so you know, I don't take checks."
"Who does?" Col. O'Neill smiled and waved his hand in the air in front of him.
Sam couldn't stop herself. "Colonel, what--"
"Better shoot, Major," he interrupted. "The steaks will get cold."
Sam turned back to the table and eyed up her shot. Of all the stupid... Why did he have to horn in on her game, anyhow? There was enough on the line here without him adding to it. Didn't he ever stop to think-- Of course not. He was Jack O'Neill, after all.
She pulled back the cue and tested the drag against the fingers she used for support. It would serve him right if she missed this. It was a hard shot; it would be easy to say that she just miscalculated. She'd love to see his face as he handed over the cash to Leroy.
Of course, she'd have to lose for that to happen.
She exhaled, slow and long. The cue slid, quick and smooth, over her finger. There was the solid snap of wood impacting on thermoset resin and a small puff of green chalk drifted into the air as the cue ball darted away. Sam didn't watch its trajectory. She didn't have to. She stood and reached for the money as she heard it impact the fourteen-ball. A second later came the dual sounds of the fourteen falling into the corner pocket and the cue ball ricocheting off the eight. The eight-ball shot to the left where it collided with eleven, which shot directly into the side pocked. The eight-ball spun in place for a fraction of a second, then followed the eleven down the hole. The cue ball drifted to a stop a half-inch from where she expected it to.
There was a moment of silence before the bar erupted into cheers and groans. Sam ignored it all, having eyes only for Col. O'Neill. He paid the bartender and he had his back to her and the pool table. He hadn't even cared enough to watch the shot. Stuffing his change into his pocket, he turned back around and surveyed the table.
"Nice." He walked over, collected on his side bet and then waved the money at her. "Steaks are on me, Carter,"
She half-heartedly returned the smile. He hadn't a clue how hard it really was. Make an impossible shot, decipher every alien technology in minutes, make a bomb from a naquaada generator... Daniel followed the colonel into the dining room, leaving her standing alone at the table.
She couldn't say what annoyed her the most: that he'd horned in on her game by placing the bet or that he didn't even care if she made it.
*~*~*~*
"Well, this mission went to hell in a hand basket faster than usual." Col. O'Neill leaned against the doorjamb and checked the load on his P90.
"I do not believe that I am familiar with that mode of locomotion, O'Neill." Teal'c didn't look up from his position on the other side of the door. He held his staff weapon low and ready.
"Yes, well, I've ridden in one a time or two. I don't recommend it." He looked over Sam. "How are we doing, Carter?"
Sam knelt by Daniel and adjusted the bandaged she had just put on his wounded right arm. "I've stopped the bleeding, but there's not much more I can do."
"I'll be fine, Jack." Daniel pulled himself out of Sam's grip and leaned against the nearest table. "Did anyone notice that the only way out of here is the way we came in?"
"Didn't have a lot of choices, Danny boy. Although it would have been nice if it had a door." Zat fire suddenly ricocheted off the walls and Teal'c and the colonel returned fire. "See what you can find, Major."
"Yes, sir." After one last check on Daniel, Sam stood and surveyed the room. It was large but crowded with bookshelves and computers. This was exactly the type of place they'd hoped to find on the planet. Of course, that was before they realized that the planetary government was controlled by the Goa'uld. Sam crossed to the largest console. She flipped a couple of switches and was rewarded with the low hum from the machine as it powered up.
The firefight on the other side of the room continued, but Sam ignored the chaos as she felt her way through the alien technology. It wasn't that much different from Earth technology, although she could see the Goa'uld influence in it. She scrolled through several screens of information before finding something useful. "I've found something, Colonel."
The weapon's fire behind her suddenly stilled and she looked up. "Colonel?"
"Don't get your hopes up. They're going for reinforcements." The colonel slapped another clip in his P90. "I figure we have about five minutes before it becomes very crowded in here. What did you find, Major?"
"A way out. If I'm reading this right, there's a ring room not too far from here."
"Rings? Are you sure?"
"I'm pretty sure." Actually, the symbols were a little odd. The controls only looked vaguely like those for a ring device. But she couldn't figure out what else it could be. "They're almost three floors directly below us."
"Below?" Daniel asked. "We're already under ground, aren't we?"
"Indeed, Daniel Jackson. We are several hundred feet below the planet's surface."
The colonel carefully peered around the corner. "You sure about this, Major?"
"Yes, sir. However, the closest stairs are back through the Jaffa."
There was a moment of silence as they all waited for the colonel make a decision. "Think you can move, Daniel?"
"Well, I'm not going to stay here if that's what you mean. Where do we plan on going?"
"Hey, Carter says down, so we go down."
"And the Jaffa between us and the stairs?" Daniel pulled himself to his feet and stood unsteadily.
The colonel rummaged through his vest pockets. "Who needs stairs?" He pulled out a cloth wrapped package and showed it to them. "I have C4."
"I should've known," Daniel said. "You think high explosives are the answer to everything."
The colonel shrugged. "Only when I have some." He tossed the package to Sam, and then turned his attention back to the hallway. "We just need a hole, Major. Try and leave us some floor to stand on."
"Yes, sir." She cut off a small piece of the C4 and pressed it against the floor.
Daniel watched her skeptically. "Since when do you like blowing things up, Sam?"
"Oh, no, Daniel," the colonel said. "When I use C4, it's blowing things up. When Carter does it, it's an experiment on the effects of volatile compounds on inanimate objects."
Daniel snorted.
"Relax, Daniel," Sam said. "I've done this before." She pressed a detonator into the C4 and helped Daniel move behind a large counter. "We're armed, sir. On your word..."
"You have a go."
"Fire in the hole," Sam yelled then she pushed the detonator.
There was a deafening bang, the floor shook and the room filled with white powder. The following silence was filled with shouts from the hall and another round of zat and staff shots from the attacking Jaffa. The colonel and Teal'c returned fire. "It's going to get hot in here," the colonel said.
The dust settled enough for Sam to see the hole that was now in the middle of the floor. She worked her way out to its edge and surveyed the room below. "It's clear, Colonel."
"Then go. Daniel, watch her six."
Daniel crawled over to Sam, pistol in hand. Sweat trickled down his face and fresh blood seeped through the bandage Sam had applied, but he took up a position by the edge of the hole.
"I'm going to secure the room first," she said. "Are you going to be able to do this with that arm?"
"Unless you happen to have a spare?"
Sam smiled at him before she dropped to the room below. This room was slightly larger than the one above it, but was empty save for the debris from the explosion. As above there was only one doorway out. This one, however, had a heavy door and electronic lock. She hesitated only a second before zatting it. Electricity arched around it and it died with a soft electronic squeal.
"Sam? What's happening?" Daniel started to climb down over the edge.
"Wait." Sam looked up at him. "Tell the colonel that I'm going to use the C4 to drop us down to the floor we need." She had to shout over the sounds of zat and P90. "Can he hold them off that long?"
"I'll check."
Sam laid the C4 without waiting for him to return. She had just placed the detonator when Daniel reappeared. "Jack says you have a go, but be quick."
Sam stood and looked up at him. "Tell him it's armed. And take cover."
Daniel nodded and disappeared. Sam counted to five, and then detonated the C4. She climbed down to the next floor before the dust settled. This room was full of boxes and crates. Sam dropped onto one of the boxes and then to the floor. The door to this room stood open. A quick check showed an empty hall. She knew that there was a stairwell a hundred yards down the hall. Unfortunately, that's where the Jaffa were, too. She shut the door and fried the lock.
She ran back and looked up through the holes but couldn't see anyone. "Daniel!" Still no answer. She climbed to the top of a crate before she spotted Daniel. He'd moved to the other side.
"Sam! How much longer?"
"Tell the colonel I'm blowing the last floor now." Sam dropped to the floor and placed the explosive, not even hearing Daniel's answer.
As soon as she hit the detonator, she knew something was wrong. Maybe she hadn't accounted for the extra weight of the boxes or maybe this floor was made of substandard material or maybe she used more C4 than she intended. But the floor buckled beneath her and she crashed down amid an avalanche of crates and debris.
She landed right in front of a startled group of Jaffa.
Everything froze for a second. She dimly heard shouts and shots and an answering echo from the explosion, but she ignored it all. Boxes still fell from the floor above as she hit, so she rolled with the impact, fighting to get clear of the debris. Her zat was in her hand before she realized that she'd drawn it. The first two Jaffa went down before they could move. She used the momentum of her roll to carry her halfway across the room. She pushed herself to her feet and ran another four steps to stay ahead of the staff weapons fire that suddenly rang through the room.
Two more shots dropped a third Jaffa but the hot blast of s staff weapon seared the air next to her head. She dove to the ground and slid under a second blast, firing off three more zat shots to take out a Jaffa who lowered his weapon at her. There were three Jaffa left. She cursed herself for being caught off balance and out in the open, when the loud, distinctive chatter of a P90 filled the room. The Jaffa and their weapons clattered to the floor. Sam rolled onto her back and breathed through the adrenaline rush.
The Colonel appeared at her side a second later, concern in his eyes. "Are you hurt, Carter?"
She shook her head and accepted the hand he offered to help.
"I used too much C4." She gave into the need to explain away the mess she made. "I didn't account..."
The colonel waved her off. "It was a beautiful job, Major. I couldn't have done better myself." He held her steady for a moment, then he let go of her hand and trotted over to the closed door. "Are the rings this way?"
"Well, not exactly. According to the schematics, the ring room is right on the other side of that wall." She gestured to the far side of the room. "But we have to go out that door to get to the hallway."
"Did you use up all the C4?"
"No, sir."
"Good." The colonel zatted the controls then turned and headed to the other side of the room. Sam stared at the blackened controls for a moment before she followed him.
Teal'c climbed down from the floor above. Daniel followed awkwardly and Teal'c reached up to help him, almost lifting him down. Sam frowned at the ashen color of Daniel's face. She also noticed that Teal'c favored one leg. She didn't say anything to either of them. They would both say they were fine.
"What about the Jaffa?" She helped Daniel across the debris to sit on a small box.
"They no longer pose a threat, Major Carter." Teal'c stood next to them and Sam could see the staff weapon burn that cut across his thigh.
"Jack blew the door and brought down half the floor above us," Daniel said. "I'm surprised any of the building is still standing."
"It wasn't supposed to bring down the whole building, Daniel. That's what this is for." The colonel held up another square of C4. "But first I want to get to the rings." He tapped along the wall with the butt of his P90.
"Sir?" Sam followed him over to the far wall.
The colonel looked up at her arrival. "We punch a hole in the wall, get to the rings, set the rest of the C4 to take out anyone following and detonate it just as we ring out."
"You can't blow up a whole building." Daniel limped over to stand by Sam's side.
"Sure I can. I have more than enough C4." The colonel stopped tapping and began placing the small portion of C4 Sam had given him onto the wall.
"That's not what I meant," Daniel protested. "Not all of these people are working with the Goa'uld."
"I know." The colonel stuck a detonator into C4. It only too him two more minutes to place the rest of the C4 along the other wall, stringing fuse between the deposits of explosive.
Daniel didn't push the topic and that worried Sam. She turned just in time to grab him as he started to collapse. She lowered him to the floor, and swore when she saw fresh blood running from a new injury in his side. "Take it easy," she said. "We'll be out of here in a minute."
"How is he?" The colonel and Teal'c crouched beside them.
"I'll be fine." Daniel, weak as he was, still managed to sound annoyed. "Let's just get out of here."
The colonel looked around. "I'm going to blow the wall and take point. T, you're going to have to carry Daniel. That means," here he looked at Sam, "you're going to have to cover our tails and blow the building as we go. Can you do that?" He held a second detonator out to her.
It wasn't, she knew, a question of ability. He was asking if she was comfortable with the request. She knew he could order her to do it, take the responsibility of the act off her and assume it himself. He did that when he knew she'd object or when it would be a questionable judgment call.
"No problem, sir." She took the detonator from him.
"Be ready to follow my lead," the colonel said. "Fire in the hole."
The explosion rocked the room and made Sam's ears ring once more. The colonel moved immediately, disappearing into the billowing clouds of dust. Teal'c followed a moment later, Daniel draped over his broad shoulders. Sam held her position for the count of thirty then trailed after.
Teal'c crouched next to Daniel who was propped up against a wall. Neither of them looked good. Jack stood in the middle of a small room. "Rings, Carter?"
Sam looked around the very empty room. There were no rings and no sign of place they could be recessed. He stomach knotted and she did a slow 360, studying the room. The rings had to be here. If they weren't... She spotted a small console recessed in the corner. As she ran to it she pushed the panic to the back of her mind. She couldn't fail them. Not after the colonel put his faith in her. "They should be here, sir. Give me a minute."
"I have a choice?" He crossed to the only door and pressed his ear against it. "Figure it out. I'll watch our sixes." He left the door and headed back to the other room.
Sam studied the controls on the console. It wasn't a ring room but the controls felt similar. She pushed at the buttons and scrolled through the screens, desperately searching for the one thing that would make everything else fall into place, the one thing that would decode it all. There was so much information and she was running out of time.
Once the Jaffa were in the other room, they'd have to make a run for it. They couldn't handle an extended firefight and they'd used most of their ordinance on the trip to this dead-end. If the Jaffa had a few shock grenades or if they circled around and blocked the door out of here, they wouldn't even last long enough to have an extended firefight.
It took all her will to pull away from that thought. She focused back on the console. This was the way out, she knew that. She only needed to figure out how, before her recommendation killed them all. Once again she ran through calculations in her head, transcribing alien technology into her closest Earth-based equivalent. There was a set of numbers that looked like coordinates. A huge buffer of energy and back up crystals provided almost unlimited storage. A control that looked to be an auto-timer.
She inputted some data and pushed a button. An intense green light filled the room and a loud hum pulsed though her head. A wave of energy pushed at her, then it was gone and only the smell of ozone remained.
"What the hell was that?" The colonel stood at the door.
Teal'c stood and pulled Daniel to his feet. The three of them stared at her.
"A transporter." As soon as she said it, she knew she was right. "It's the fast way from the bottom of the complex to the Stargate."
"You sure?" The colonel peered around and edged out into the middle of the room. He sniffed the air. "It smells burnt to me. What if it's some sort of disintegrator? You know, a fast way to get rid of trash and pesky SGC personnel."
Sam frowned. She hadn't even considered that. It could be a disintegrator. The same technology could be used for both. It just didn't feel like a disintegrator.
Shouts and pounding came from the other room. The colonel spun and ran back to the opening. "We're going to have company in a minute." He nodded at the door out of the room. "If we head out that way, do you think you could remember the layout enough to get us out of here?"
Sam ran through the memory. "Yes, but there's twenty floors we'll have to fight our way up."
A staff blast ricocheted off the wall and Teal'c leaned into the opening to return fire. There moment of silence, followed by more pounding, but no more shots.
"We're gonna be over run." The colonel looked back at Sam. "You sure about that thing?"
Sam nodded before she actually came to a decision. "Yes, sir."
"Fine. Give me the detonator. Teal'c, you and Daniel get into the middle of the room." The colonel moved more to the center but stayed where he could see into the other room.
"Can you put us by the Stargate?"
"I think so." It should just be a matter of inputting the right destination.
"Make it happen, Major."
Sam's fingers danced over the controls as she calculated the variables needed. Most of it was a guess, but all of it felt right. She flipped through the symbols looking for the familiar ones.
"Carter."
"In a second, sir."
The pounding suddenly stopped, replaced by a low rumble.
"I'm not sure we have that long."
Sam punched in the last code and pushed a button. Then she ran to the center of the room. She crouched in front of the colonel, her weapon pointed at the opening to the next room.
"How long?" The colonel asked.
"I think I set it for five."
"Five what?"
"I'm not sure."
"Carter."
A Jaffa appeared in the door. Sam and the colonel shot at the same time. The Jaffa fell but was replaced by another one.
"Can't wait," the colonel said. "I'm going to blow it now." He jammed his thumb down on the detonation button.
Sam didn't hear the resulting explosion. A deep green light started to build around them and a low vibration race through Sam. The world around her dimmed.
Then they stood in front of the Stargate. Their appearance scattered the few natives who stood near the platform. A pair of Jaffa stood off to the left and the colonel fired, dropping them before they could react. He fired another burst into the ground in front of the crowd, pushing them back. Distant shout from Jaffa could be heard. The colonel waved toward the DHD. "Dial us home, Major."
"Yes, sir." Sam was already at the DHD, pushing in the address.
The Stargate sprung to life and Sam helped the colonel lay down cover fire as Teal'c and Daniel made their way up to the shimmering wormhole. There was sudden weapons fire from their left as more Jaffa arrived.
"Go, Carter."
At the colonel's order, she spun, dashed up the steps and dove through the wormhole. She rolled onto the gateroom ramp and came to her feet. She caught a glimpse of Teal'c and Daniel being attended to by medical personal and then turned her attention back to the Stargate.
Two very long seconds later the colonel burst through, his order that the iris to be closed rang through the room.
She helped pulled him to a stop. After the gate closed she turned to the colonel. "Thank you, sir."
He looked surprised. "For what?"
"For trusting I was right about the transporter."
"Hell, Carter, that was the easiest decision of the mission."
"Sir?"
"Always trust Carter. It's a rule in the SGC handbook."
"It is?"
"I'm pretty sure it is." He turned and walked down the ramp to where General Hammond waited for them. "I told them to put it in there."
Sam stood for a moment, and then followed. She wondered if she had the newest edition of the handbook in her office.
*~*~*~*
The team was back at O'Malley's their next Thursday night off. Even Teal'c -- in his best Murray hat -- sat at the bar and drank a soda. Sam, again in the middle of a game of pool, once more looked for the perfect shot. She circled the table, calculated the odds and found her shot. As always, the numbers danced in front of her eyes, the angles so perfect it almost hurt.
She looked over at her opponent. Tom was a regular and they'd played against each other before. He was good enough to beat her a time or two and smart enough to acknowledge how good she really was. "Two shots," she said, "with the eight-ball in the corner pocket."
Tom considered it, and then shook his head. "Not possible."
The colonel snorted into his drink, drawing the attention of both the players.
"You think she can make it?" Tom asked.
The colonel looked at her. "Carter?"
"Yes, sir."
The colonel nodded and turned back to Tom. "See? No problem."
Tom's puzzled looked traveled from the colonel to Sam. Then he shrugged. "We'll see." He walked back to the bar and picked up his beer. "This first shot's not the tricky one, anyhow."
He was right, Sam knew. She only took a moment to run through the variables again, and then she shot.
Two balls dropped neatly into pockets. Two more took up new positions on the table and the cue ball stopped next to the eight. Perfect.
Tom moved up to the table and studied it. Then he turned to her, clearly puzzled. It was obvious that he couldn't see the shot. "Are you sure you don't want to change your call?" he asked.
She shook her head. She had her perfect shot; the fact that he couldn't see it made it that much better.
The colonel walked over to the table and looked it over, too. From the way he looked at the table, she knew he couldn't see the shot, either.
"You still sure I can make it?" she asked.
He smiled. "I'd bet my life on it."
"Thank you, sir," she leaned over to line up the shot, "but don't."
"Well, maybe not on a game of pool."
She smiled at him and shot.
Neither of them had to watch to know she'd won.
Author: partly
Rating/Warning: PG -- none
Spoilers: None
Your recipient: Regan / regan_x
Request details:
Wants: (1) Team interaction and friendship
(2) Something of both Scientist Sam and Soldier Sam if possible.
(3) Humour isn't essential but a little would be nice.
Doesn't want: (1) The death of a major character
(2) Cameron Mitchell
(3) An unhappy ending
A Sure Thing
Samantha Carter ignored the chaos around as she paused to study her options. The green field was flat and unblemished; she could study the entire layout from her vantage point. It didn't look good. Right now she had the advantage, but she needed to be very careful. She couldn't afford to miss.
The shots were tricky but she could make them, she just didn't like them. She couldn't shake the feeling that she overlooked something, that there was a better option than the three shots she'd planned out. There was a rustle of movement beside her as Daniel moved, waiting for her to act. She took a deep breath, lined up her shot.
And stood.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud, Carter. Take the shot already. Our steaks will be here any minute." Colonel Jack O'Neill's voice cut across the din of O'Malley's Bar and Grill and pulled Sam's attention away from the pool table.
"Yes, sir," she answered automatically. "It's just that..." She shrugged and smiled. Something was missing. She could feel it.
"The flyboy's right, honey." Sam's opponent, Leroy, if the softball jersey he wore could be believed, leaned on his cue and took another swig of his beer. "We ain't got all night."
Sam bristled but managed to bite back the retort that sprang to mind. This was the first time SG1 had been allowed back into O'Malley's in the six months since they'd gotten into a brawl. Sam had no intention of getting banned again, at least not this soon.
"It'll be just a minute, sir." Sam surveyed the pool table again as she looked for the perfect shot. After a moment, she looked back up at the colonel. "I'm just not sure if I should--"
"Hey," Leroy waved his beer her way and stepped between her and the colonel. "No help from the peanut gallery. If you can't take the shot, you shouldn't have tried to play with the big boys."
Sam froze at the comment. Colonel O'Neill took a small step toward her and Daniel frowned and set down his glass. She gave a small shake of her head at them and breathed through the initial, irrational recklessness that pushed at her. One would think she would be beyond the need to prove herself to anyone, especially some drunk redneck in a bar. But the challenge ate at her and she wanted nothing more than to shove his drink down his throat. She'd settle for winning the game.
A waitress appeared by Col. O'Neill's side. "You table is ready, sir. If you'd follow me, please."
Sam looked away from the colonel and back at the table, quickly running through all her options. Leroy might be a jerk, but he was good with a stick, which is why she chose to play a game against him in the first place. If he got the shot, he' win.
Sam heard the waitress start to walk away and then pause when no one followed her. "Should I bring the steaks out now?" she asked. Sam listened, but she didn't hear the colonel answer. She knew he wanted her to make a move.
"Might as well have her bring them out, darlin'," Leroy said when no one else spoke. "The game's over as soon as I can sink the eight ball. Do you plan on takin' a shot or are you just gonna stand there lookin' pretty?"
Sam spun and pointed the cue at Leroy. Her threat died on her tongue, though, when the colonel stepped in front of her. "Just take the shot, Carter. Then you can stand around and look pretty."
Sam glared at his grin. She counted to ten and spun to study the table again. The colonel was right. Win the game and nothing else would matter. She should just shoot.
But she didn't want to. There was something else there, some other shot. A perfect shot. She could feel it.
Leroy set his beer on the end of the table and leaned over it, his hand dropping casually to the money that sat on the edge. "Just gonna call it then? Hell, I'll even buy you a round."
Close to $200 sat on the table, the result of doubling down two previous wins. She had no intention of walking away from it. She couldn't help it just felt wrong. There had to be a better shot, if only she could find it. A small, annoying voice in the back of her head kept saying that she couldn't make it and that's why she didn't want to shoot.
"Carter?" Col. O'Neill's voice, quiet as it was, cut through the din of the bar. It was almost one syllable the way he said it; short, clipped and to the point. It was the tone he always used when he wanted an answer, some indication that she had a course of action planned. It was the way he always sounded when he expected her to come up with an answer that would save them all.
He never seemed to appreciate how difficult it really was. Why did he expect her to be able to--
And she saw it. The shot she'd been looking for. It was laid out in front of her: all the angles clear and precise. She could almost see chalk marks and formulas scrawled on the pristine felt that showed how perfect the shot really was. If she hit it two degrees to the right and half-way down, giving it just the right amount of spin, the cue ball would almost dance across the table. If she hit it with just the right amount of force it would carry to all three balls before the eight ball fell into the right side pocket. It would be beautiful.
"We can add the drinks to the bet if you want." She used her cue to tap the side pocket. "Eight ball." She leaned down to line up the shot.
"Carter?" It was Col. O'Neill again. This time her name was definitely two syllables, the first one almost a drawl and the last a quick question. He was looking for reassurance now, some sign that she wasn't as crazy as he thought she was. It was his "I-can't-believe-you're-doing-this" voice, his "I'm-this-close-to-ordering-you-to-stop" voice.
"It's under control, sir." She spoke without looking up. "One shot and we can eat."
"One shot?" Leroy laughed. "Aw, girl, you're dreamin'. Ain't no one can make those three balls in one shot."
Sam stopped in mid-backswing but before she could answer him, Col. O'Neill spoke. "Really? How 'bout a little side bet on that? Say, for twice the amount on the table?"
Sam's glare sifted from Leroy to Col. O'Neill. Just what the hell did he think he was doing?
Leroy smiled. "You got a bet, flyboy. And just so you know, I don't take checks."
"Who does?" Col. O'Neill smiled and waved his hand in the air in front of him.
Sam couldn't stop herself. "Colonel, what--"
"Better shoot, Major," he interrupted. "The steaks will get cold."
Sam turned back to the table and eyed up her shot. Of all the stupid... Why did he have to horn in on her game, anyhow? There was enough on the line here without him adding to it. Didn't he ever stop to think-- Of course not. He was Jack O'Neill, after all.
She pulled back the cue and tested the drag against the fingers she used for support. It would serve him right if she missed this. It was a hard shot; it would be easy to say that she just miscalculated. She'd love to see his face as he handed over the cash to Leroy.
Of course, she'd have to lose for that to happen.
She exhaled, slow and long. The cue slid, quick and smooth, over her finger. There was the solid snap of wood impacting on thermoset resin and a small puff of green chalk drifted into the air as the cue ball darted away. Sam didn't watch its trajectory. She didn't have to. She stood and reached for the money as she heard it impact the fourteen-ball. A second later came the dual sounds of the fourteen falling into the corner pocket and the cue ball ricocheting off the eight. The eight-ball shot to the left where it collided with eleven, which shot directly into the side pocked. The eight-ball spun in place for a fraction of a second, then followed the eleven down the hole. The cue ball drifted to a stop a half-inch from where she expected it to.
There was a moment of silence before the bar erupted into cheers and groans. Sam ignored it all, having eyes only for Col. O'Neill. He paid the bartender and he had his back to her and the pool table. He hadn't even cared enough to watch the shot. Stuffing his change into his pocket, he turned back around and surveyed the table.
"Nice." He walked over, collected on his side bet and then waved the money at her. "Steaks are on me, Carter,"
She half-heartedly returned the smile. He hadn't a clue how hard it really was. Make an impossible shot, decipher every alien technology in minutes, make a bomb from a naquaada generator... Daniel followed the colonel into the dining room, leaving her standing alone at the table.
She couldn't say what annoyed her the most: that he'd horned in on her game by placing the bet or that he didn't even care if she made it.
*~*~*~*
"Well, this mission went to hell in a hand basket faster than usual." Col. O'Neill leaned against the doorjamb and checked the load on his P90.
"I do not believe that I am familiar with that mode of locomotion, O'Neill." Teal'c didn't look up from his position on the other side of the door. He held his staff weapon low and ready.
"Yes, well, I've ridden in one a time or two. I don't recommend it." He looked over Sam. "How are we doing, Carter?"
Sam knelt by Daniel and adjusted the bandaged she had just put on his wounded right arm. "I've stopped the bleeding, but there's not much more I can do."
"I'll be fine, Jack." Daniel pulled himself out of Sam's grip and leaned against the nearest table. "Did anyone notice that the only way out of here is the way we came in?"
"Didn't have a lot of choices, Danny boy. Although it would have been nice if it had a door." Zat fire suddenly ricocheted off the walls and Teal'c and the colonel returned fire. "See what you can find, Major."
"Yes, sir." After one last check on Daniel, Sam stood and surveyed the room. It was large but crowded with bookshelves and computers. This was exactly the type of place they'd hoped to find on the planet. Of course, that was before they realized that the planetary government was controlled by the Goa'uld. Sam crossed to the largest console. She flipped a couple of switches and was rewarded with the low hum from the machine as it powered up.
The firefight on the other side of the room continued, but Sam ignored the chaos as she felt her way through the alien technology. It wasn't that much different from Earth technology, although she could see the Goa'uld influence in it. She scrolled through several screens of information before finding something useful. "I've found something, Colonel."
The weapon's fire behind her suddenly stilled and she looked up. "Colonel?"
"Don't get your hopes up. They're going for reinforcements." The colonel slapped another clip in his P90. "I figure we have about five minutes before it becomes very crowded in here. What did you find, Major?"
"A way out. If I'm reading this right, there's a ring room not too far from here."
"Rings? Are you sure?"
"I'm pretty sure." Actually, the symbols were a little odd. The controls only looked vaguely like those for a ring device. But she couldn't figure out what else it could be. "They're almost three floors directly below us."
"Below?" Daniel asked. "We're already under ground, aren't we?"
"Indeed, Daniel Jackson. We are several hundred feet below the planet's surface."
The colonel carefully peered around the corner. "You sure about this, Major?"
"Yes, sir. However, the closest stairs are back through the Jaffa."
There was a moment of silence as they all waited for the colonel make a decision. "Think you can move, Daniel?"
"Well, I'm not going to stay here if that's what you mean. Where do we plan on going?"
"Hey, Carter says down, so we go down."
"And the Jaffa between us and the stairs?" Daniel pulled himself to his feet and stood unsteadily.
The colonel rummaged through his vest pockets. "Who needs stairs?" He pulled out a cloth wrapped package and showed it to them. "I have C4."
"I should've known," Daniel said. "You think high explosives are the answer to everything."
The colonel shrugged. "Only when I have some." He tossed the package to Sam, and then turned his attention back to the hallway. "We just need a hole, Major. Try and leave us some floor to stand on."
"Yes, sir." She cut off a small piece of the C4 and pressed it against the floor.
Daniel watched her skeptically. "Since when do you like blowing things up, Sam?"
"Oh, no, Daniel," the colonel said. "When I use C4, it's blowing things up. When Carter does it, it's an experiment on the effects of volatile compounds on inanimate objects."
Daniel snorted.
"Relax, Daniel," Sam said. "I've done this before." She pressed a detonator into the C4 and helped Daniel move behind a large counter. "We're armed, sir. On your word..."
"You have a go."
"Fire in the hole," Sam yelled then she pushed the detonator.
There was a deafening bang, the floor shook and the room filled with white powder. The following silence was filled with shouts from the hall and another round of zat and staff shots from the attacking Jaffa. The colonel and Teal'c returned fire. "It's going to get hot in here," the colonel said.
The dust settled enough for Sam to see the hole that was now in the middle of the floor. She worked her way out to its edge and surveyed the room below. "It's clear, Colonel."
"Then go. Daniel, watch her six."
Daniel crawled over to Sam, pistol in hand. Sweat trickled down his face and fresh blood seeped through the bandage Sam had applied, but he took up a position by the edge of the hole.
"I'm going to secure the room first," she said. "Are you going to be able to do this with that arm?"
"Unless you happen to have a spare?"
Sam smiled at him before she dropped to the room below. This room was slightly larger than the one above it, but was empty save for the debris from the explosion. As above there was only one doorway out. This one, however, had a heavy door and electronic lock. She hesitated only a second before zatting it. Electricity arched around it and it died with a soft electronic squeal.
"Sam? What's happening?" Daniel started to climb down over the edge.
"Wait." Sam looked up at him. "Tell the colonel that I'm going to use the C4 to drop us down to the floor we need." She had to shout over the sounds of zat and P90. "Can he hold them off that long?"
"I'll check."
Sam laid the C4 without waiting for him to return. She had just placed the detonator when Daniel reappeared. "Jack says you have a go, but be quick."
Sam stood and looked up at him. "Tell him it's armed. And take cover."
Daniel nodded and disappeared. Sam counted to five, and then detonated the C4. She climbed down to the next floor before the dust settled. This room was full of boxes and crates. Sam dropped onto one of the boxes and then to the floor. The door to this room stood open. A quick check showed an empty hall. She knew that there was a stairwell a hundred yards down the hall. Unfortunately, that's where the Jaffa were, too. She shut the door and fried the lock.
She ran back and looked up through the holes but couldn't see anyone. "Daniel!" Still no answer. She climbed to the top of a crate before she spotted Daniel. He'd moved to the other side.
"Sam! How much longer?"
"Tell the colonel I'm blowing the last floor now." Sam dropped to the floor and placed the explosive, not even hearing Daniel's answer.
As soon as she hit the detonator, she knew something was wrong. Maybe she hadn't accounted for the extra weight of the boxes or maybe this floor was made of substandard material or maybe she used more C4 than she intended. But the floor buckled beneath her and she crashed down amid an avalanche of crates and debris.
She landed right in front of a startled group of Jaffa.
Everything froze for a second. She dimly heard shouts and shots and an answering echo from the explosion, but she ignored it all. Boxes still fell from the floor above as she hit, so she rolled with the impact, fighting to get clear of the debris. Her zat was in her hand before she realized that she'd drawn it. The first two Jaffa went down before they could move. She used the momentum of her roll to carry her halfway across the room. She pushed herself to her feet and ran another four steps to stay ahead of the staff weapons fire that suddenly rang through the room.
Two more shots dropped a third Jaffa but the hot blast of s staff weapon seared the air next to her head. She dove to the ground and slid under a second blast, firing off three more zat shots to take out a Jaffa who lowered his weapon at her. There were three Jaffa left. She cursed herself for being caught off balance and out in the open, when the loud, distinctive chatter of a P90 filled the room. The Jaffa and their weapons clattered to the floor. Sam rolled onto her back and breathed through the adrenaline rush.
The Colonel appeared at her side a second later, concern in his eyes. "Are you hurt, Carter?"
She shook her head and accepted the hand he offered to help.
"I used too much C4." She gave into the need to explain away the mess she made. "I didn't account..."
The colonel waved her off. "It was a beautiful job, Major. I couldn't have done better myself." He held her steady for a moment, then he let go of her hand and trotted over to the closed door. "Are the rings this way?"
"Well, not exactly. According to the schematics, the ring room is right on the other side of that wall." She gestured to the far side of the room. "But we have to go out that door to get to the hallway."
"Did you use up all the C4?"
"No, sir."
"Good." The colonel zatted the controls then turned and headed to the other side of the room. Sam stared at the blackened controls for a moment before she followed him.
Teal'c climbed down from the floor above. Daniel followed awkwardly and Teal'c reached up to help him, almost lifting him down. Sam frowned at the ashen color of Daniel's face. She also noticed that Teal'c favored one leg. She didn't say anything to either of them. They would both say they were fine.
"What about the Jaffa?" She helped Daniel across the debris to sit on a small box.
"They no longer pose a threat, Major Carter." Teal'c stood next to them and Sam could see the staff weapon burn that cut across his thigh.
"Jack blew the door and brought down half the floor above us," Daniel said. "I'm surprised any of the building is still standing."
"It wasn't supposed to bring down the whole building, Daniel. That's what this is for." The colonel held up another square of C4. "But first I want to get to the rings." He tapped along the wall with the butt of his P90.
"Sir?" Sam followed him over to the far wall.
The colonel looked up at her arrival. "We punch a hole in the wall, get to the rings, set the rest of the C4 to take out anyone following and detonate it just as we ring out."
"You can't blow up a whole building." Daniel limped over to stand by Sam's side.
"Sure I can. I have more than enough C4." The colonel stopped tapping and began placing the small portion of C4 Sam had given him onto the wall.
"That's not what I meant," Daniel protested. "Not all of these people are working with the Goa'uld."
"I know." The colonel stuck a detonator into C4. It only too him two more minutes to place the rest of the C4 along the other wall, stringing fuse between the deposits of explosive.
Daniel didn't push the topic and that worried Sam. She turned just in time to grab him as he started to collapse. She lowered him to the floor, and swore when she saw fresh blood running from a new injury in his side. "Take it easy," she said. "We'll be out of here in a minute."
"How is he?" The colonel and Teal'c crouched beside them.
"I'll be fine." Daniel, weak as he was, still managed to sound annoyed. "Let's just get out of here."
The colonel looked around. "I'm going to blow the wall and take point. T, you're going to have to carry Daniel. That means," here he looked at Sam, "you're going to have to cover our tails and blow the building as we go. Can you do that?" He held a second detonator out to her.
It wasn't, she knew, a question of ability. He was asking if she was comfortable with the request. She knew he could order her to do it, take the responsibility of the act off her and assume it himself. He did that when he knew she'd object or when it would be a questionable judgment call.
"No problem, sir." She took the detonator from him.
"Be ready to follow my lead," the colonel said. "Fire in the hole."
The explosion rocked the room and made Sam's ears ring once more. The colonel moved immediately, disappearing into the billowing clouds of dust. Teal'c followed a moment later, Daniel draped over his broad shoulders. Sam held her position for the count of thirty then trailed after.
Teal'c crouched next to Daniel who was propped up against a wall. Neither of them looked good. Jack stood in the middle of a small room. "Rings, Carter?"
Sam looked around the very empty room. There were no rings and no sign of place they could be recessed. He stomach knotted and she did a slow 360, studying the room. The rings had to be here. If they weren't... She spotted a small console recessed in the corner. As she ran to it she pushed the panic to the back of her mind. She couldn't fail them. Not after the colonel put his faith in her. "They should be here, sir. Give me a minute."
"I have a choice?" He crossed to the only door and pressed his ear against it. "Figure it out. I'll watch our sixes." He left the door and headed back to the other room.
Sam studied the controls on the console. It wasn't a ring room but the controls felt similar. She pushed at the buttons and scrolled through the screens, desperately searching for the one thing that would make everything else fall into place, the one thing that would decode it all. There was so much information and she was running out of time.
Once the Jaffa were in the other room, they'd have to make a run for it. They couldn't handle an extended firefight and they'd used most of their ordinance on the trip to this dead-end. If the Jaffa had a few shock grenades or if they circled around and blocked the door out of here, they wouldn't even last long enough to have an extended firefight.
It took all her will to pull away from that thought. She focused back on the console. This was the way out, she knew that. She only needed to figure out how, before her recommendation killed them all. Once again she ran through calculations in her head, transcribing alien technology into her closest Earth-based equivalent. There was a set of numbers that looked like coordinates. A huge buffer of energy and back up crystals provided almost unlimited storage. A control that looked to be an auto-timer.
She inputted some data and pushed a button. An intense green light filled the room and a loud hum pulsed though her head. A wave of energy pushed at her, then it was gone and only the smell of ozone remained.
"What the hell was that?" The colonel stood at the door.
Teal'c stood and pulled Daniel to his feet. The three of them stared at her.
"A transporter." As soon as she said it, she knew she was right. "It's the fast way from the bottom of the complex to the Stargate."
"You sure?" The colonel peered around and edged out into the middle of the room. He sniffed the air. "It smells burnt to me. What if it's some sort of disintegrator? You know, a fast way to get rid of trash and pesky SGC personnel."
Sam frowned. She hadn't even considered that. It could be a disintegrator. The same technology could be used for both. It just didn't feel like a disintegrator.
Shouts and pounding came from the other room. The colonel spun and ran back to the opening. "We're going to have company in a minute." He nodded at the door out of the room. "If we head out that way, do you think you could remember the layout enough to get us out of here?"
Sam ran through the memory. "Yes, but there's twenty floors we'll have to fight our way up."
A staff blast ricocheted off the wall and Teal'c leaned into the opening to return fire. There moment of silence, followed by more pounding, but no more shots.
"We're gonna be over run." The colonel looked back at Sam. "You sure about that thing?"
Sam nodded before she actually came to a decision. "Yes, sir."
"Fine. Give me the detonator. Teal'c, you and Daniel get into the middle of the room." The colonel moved more to the center but stayed where he could see into the other room.
"Can you put us by the Stargate?"
"I think so." It should just be a matter of inputting the right destination.
"Make it happen, Major."
Sam's fingers danced over the controls as she calculated the variables needed. Most of it was a guess, but all of it felt right. She flipped through the symbols looking for the familiar ones.
"Carter."
"In a second, sir."
The pounding suddenly stopped, replaced by a low rumble.
"I'm not sure we have that long."
Sam punched in the last code and pushed a button. Then she ran to the center of the room. She crouched in front of the colonel, her weapon pointed at the opening to the next room.
"How long?" The colonel asked.
"I think I set it for five."
"Five what?"
"I'm not sure."
"Carter."
A Jaffa appeared in the door. Sam and the colonel shot at the same time. The Jaffa fell but was replaced by another one.
"Can't wait," the colonel said. "I'm going to blow it now." He jammed his thumb down on the detonation button.
Sam didn't hear the resulting explosion. A deep green light started to build around them and a low vibration race through Sam. The world around her dimmed.
Then they stood in front of the Stargate. Their appearance scattered the few natives who stood near the platform. A pair of Jaffa stood off to the left and the colonel fired, dropping them before they could react. He fired another burst into the ground in front of the crowd, pushing them back. Distant shout from Jaffa could be heard. The colonel waved toward the DHD. "Dial us home, Major."
"Yes, sir." Sam was already at the DHD, pushing in the address.
The Stargate sprung to life and Sam helped the colonel lay down cover fire as Teal'c and Daniel made their way up to the shimmering wormhole. There was sudden weapons fire from their left as more Jaffa arrived.
"Go, Carter."
At the colonel's order, she spun, dashed up the steps and dove through the wormhole. She rolled onto the gateroom ramp and came to her feet. She caught a glimpse of Teal'c and Daniel being attended to by medical personal and then turned her attention back to the Stargate.
Two very long seconds later the colonel burst through, his order that the iris to be closed rang through the room.
She helped pulled him to a stop. After the gate closed she turned to the colonel. "Thank you, sir."
He looked surprised. "For what?"
"For trusting I was right about the transporter."
"Hell, Carter, that was the easiest decision of the mission."
"Sir?"
"Always trust Carter. It's a rule in the SGC handbook."
"It is?"
"I'm pretty sure it is." He turned and walked down the ramp to where General Hammond waited for them. "I told them to put it in there."
Sam stood for a moment, and then followed. She wondered if she had the newest edition of the handbook in her office.
*~*~*~*
The team was back at O'Malley's their next Thursday night off. Even Teal'c -- in his best Murray hat -- sat at the bar and drank a soda. Sam, again in the middle of a game of pool, once more looked for the perfect shot. She circled the table, calculated the odds and found her shot. As always, the numbers danced in front of her eyes, the angles so perfect it almost hurt.
She looked over at her opponent. Tom was a regular and they'd played against each other before. He was good enough to beat her a time or two and smart enough to acknowledge how good she really was. "Two shots," she said, "with the eight-ball in the corner pocket."
Tom considered it, and then shook his head. "Not possible."
The colonel snorted into his drink, drawing the attention of both the players.
"You think she can make it?" Tom asked.
The colonel looked at her. "Carter?"
"Yes, sir."
The colonel nodded and turned back to Tom. "See? No problem."
Tom's puzzled looked traveled from the colonel to Sam. Then he shrugged. "We'll see." He walked back to the bar and picked up his beer. "This first shot's not the tricky one, anyhow."
He was right, Sam knew. She only took a moment to run through the variables again, and then she shot.
Two balls dropped neatly into pockets. Two more took up new positions on the table and the cue ball stopped next to the eight. Perfect.
Tom moved up to the table and studied it. Then he turned to her, clearly puzzled. It was obvious that he couldn't see the shot. "Are you sure you don't want to change your call?" he asked.
She shook her head. She had her perfect shot; the fact that he couldn't see it made it that much better.
The colonel walked over to the table and looked it over, too. From the way he looked at the table, she knew he couldn't see the shot, either.
"You still sure I can make it?" she asked.
He smiled. "I'd bet my life on it."
"Thank you, sir," she leaned over to line up the shot, "but don't."
"Well, maybe not on a game of pool."
She smiled at him and shot.
Neither of them had to watch to know she'd won.