Two Sides to The Other Side

Carter was standing at the top of the ramp, her gun at the ready as he walked through the event horizon. She had hundreds of questions in her eyes.

He counted to five before he said, “Close the iris.”

There was a part of him that wanted the man to make it through, though he’d told him not to follow. ‘If he makes it through, it was meant to be, right? If he makes it through, he could be contained, right?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Sam, he thought, ‘I have to do this.’

“Do it!” he heard Hammond order.

He stayed focused on Carter, trying to will her to understand why he had done this, why he had allowed a man to die simply because of his belief that humans were not “breeders”.

“I take it, Colonel, you were unable to procure any of the Eurondan technology?” he heard Hammond ask.

“That's correct, Sir,” he responded stiffly. He watched as Sam’s eyes dropped, the tears visible to only him. ‘Please understand, my love.’

“I'm sorry to hear that,” said Hammond.

He looked down at Sam, her head still slightly bowed.

“Don't be,” he said. Sam snapped her eyes back to his face. Something akin to disgust crossed her face, and then pain. ‘Please don’t hate me, Sam. Please understand why I had to do it.’

“We'll debrief in one hour,” Hammond said quietly.

“Yes, Sir,” he replied simply. His eyes implored her, ‘Please understand. Please understand that I couldn’t let him come here. Please understand that I saw him as a Hitler, as a Sadaam Hussein. I don’t want another one of those on this planet, ever. My father fought one. I fought another. Another to be in this world is one more too many. Bigots who don’t even believe that they way we make love, the way you and I could possibly create a child is appropriate shouldn’t be allowed to live. Don’t you understand that?? Don’t you get why I have done this thing you see as being so horrible?’

She looked him up and down before she turned and walked away, not a single glance back at him. His eyes filled with tears he could not shed for a love he should not have had and had already lost.

She walked through the ‘gate and turned to wait for the Colonel. And Alar. He was going to let Alar come through, wasn’t he? As Jack walked through the ‘gate, he hesitated. Perhaps he was going to let Alar come to Earth, share his knowledge of the technology of his world. Perhaps he would let the coward live.

He counted to five before he said, “Close the iris.”

She just stared at him. He wasn’t going to let him come through. A part of her was relieved. The other part angry. She couldn’t understand where the anger had come from. She knew Alar and his father had destroyed a world, attempted genocide of people who were “breeders”. But she was angry that they had gone as far as they had before realizing what they would be getting themselves into. She had blindly followed Jack’s orders once again. Wouldn’t it have been better to let the traitor come to Earth, let him learn that he was surrounded by a world of breeders?

“Do it!” she heard Hammond order.

She stayed focused on Jack, trying to understand why he had done this, why he had allowed a man to die simply because of his belief that humans were not “breeders”.

“I take it, Colonel, you were unable to procure Eurondan technology?” she heard Hammond ask.

“That's correct, Sir,” Jack responded stiffly. She dropped her eyes, feeling the tears filling them. She couldn’t bear to look at a man who had so emotionlessly just killed a man for his beliefs. She didn’t know if she could love him either. She obviously didn’t know as much about him as she thought she had.

“I'm sorry to hear that,” said Hammond.

“Don't be,” Jack said.

Sam snapped her eyes up to look at him. She couldn’t help but let her emotions cross her face. She was disgusted by him. She was hurt that he would do something so completely cold.

“We'll debrief in one hour,” Hammond said quietly.

“Yes, Sir,” he replied simply.

She continued to stare at him, waiting for him to say something, waiting for him to explain. When he said nothing after a long moment, she looked away down to his boots, unable to say all she wanted to say. She turned and walked away, the tears filling her eyes as she realized that she truly didn’t know the man she’d fallen in love with.