Whatever it Takes
Whatever it Takes
by LJEvans
Summary: SG1 travel to a planet where they once again become slaves, however, in order to ensure their safety and survival, Jack and Sam must not hide their feelings for each other.
Category: Action/Adventure, Angst, Romance
Season: Season 7
Pairing: Jack/Sam
Rating: 13+
Warnings: sexual situations, violence
Author's Notes: If you enjoy this story please send feedback!
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story was created for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 08/17/05
WHATEVER IT TAKES
SG1 sat around the table in the conference room at the SGC while Daniel spoke excitedly about the fact the rather primitive indigenous people on P3X-071 had no use for the huge amounts of naquada on their planet and were willing to allow the Earth to have it in exchange for medicine and some agricultural equipment.
Colonel O'Neill sat in his usual place next to General Hammond with Major Carter sitting across the table from him. Jack couldn't hide his boredom. `Just a standard meet and greet, sign some papers and come home.' He thought. Daniel would do all the work, all the diplomatic stuff, while Teal'c, Carter and himself would stand by, weapons close at hand, just in case. Nothing would happen, the papers would be signed and they would be home in time for supper. It was Friday and Jack thought they should have a team night. Any excuse to see Carter in a social setting worked for him.
He glanced across the table at Carter and gave her a wicked smile. She smiled back but he knew exactly what her smile said. `Sir, what are you thinking?'.
Daniel had finished prattling on about what a great opportunity this was and General Hammond's words, "You have a go.", brought Jack back to reality. SG1 stood up from the table and Jack said "Meet you in the gate room in 30 minutes." Everyone nodded and went to collect their gear.
SG1, wearing their olive drab BDU's, stepped through the event horizon and moments later appeared on P3X-071. The planet was lush and green, lots of trees and a temperate climate. Three men dressed in what looked like Roman togas, stood near the Stargate waiting for them. One of the men stepped forward.
"Welcome back Daniel". He said.
"Thank you, Adjeck." Daniel said. "These are the others I told you about." He gestured with his right hand "This is Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and Teal'c."
"You are welcome here." Adjeck said. "Please follow us to the High Counsel Chambers where we can finish our negotiations."
SG1 fell in step behind the welcoming party, but O'Neill, Carter, and Teal'c continuously scanned for any threats. It was a 15 minute walk to the village and Adjeck led the team to a white marble building with classic Doric columns. The team followed him inside to what appeared to be a banquet hall. A feast was set out for them on a long low table and brightly colored pillows were spaced around the table on the floor.
As SG1 entered the room so did the High Counsel members. Adjeck introduced the team to the Protectorate, the head of the High Counsel.
"This is an important occasion for our two worlds and we must celebrate with food and wine before we sign the treaty." The Protectorate said.
"We would be quite honored to join you in celebration."
"Daniel" Jack said with a warning tone.
"Jack," Daniel replied in a low voice. "This is important. We can't insult these people."
"Daniel, you know how dangerous it is to sample the food on other worlds..." Jack was thinking about a cake he ate with the end result being that he aged a lifetime in a few days.
"I know Jack, but I've spent some time with these people over the past two weeks, I've eaten their food and I `m fine."
The Protectorate invited them to take seats at the table, indicating where he wanted each member of SG1 to sit. He split them up with two members of the High Counsel seated between each member of SG1. Daniel was at the head of the table next to the Protectorate. Sam sat next to Adjeck and across from Colonel O'Neill. The Protectorate indicated a seat at the end of the table for Teal'c. Jack, Carter and Teal'c exchanged worried glances and then took their seats at the low table.
Servant girls, also dressed in togas, brought in trays of fruit, miniature cakes and pitchers of wine. After everyone had a full chalice of wine the Protectorate held up his goblet and said "To a long and profitable relationship between our worlds."
Each member of SG1 held up their chalice then hesitantly took a sip. "Protectorate, this is the best wine I've ever tasted!" Major Carter enthused.
"See!" Said Daniel "I told you it would be ok."
Jack, not the biggest wine connoisseur on the planet, also agreed "Yeah, this is great!" He said as he took another sip.
"I too find this beverage most pleasing." Stated Teal'c.
"Wonderful!" Said the Protectorate and he clapped his hands twice at which the servant girls returned with the pitchers to refill everyone's glasses.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Jack awoke to find himself lying on a cold flagstone floor, a dull, thumping ache behind his eyes. The room was dimly lit and dank. "Ooooh," he groaned "I knew we shouldn't have eaten the local cuisine."
He hauled himself up off the floor and was shocked to find he was in a prison cell, his weapons gone. Carter was passed out on the single cot in the cell. A man he had never seen before cowered in the corner of the cell. The young man had very short brown hair and wore an earth tone tunic and baggy pants.
"Who are you?" Jack snarled at the man, although he didn't mean to snarl, it was just that waking up in a cell never made him happy.
"My name is Lo'jess." The man stammered.
"What is this place, why are we here?" Jack asked as he walked over to check on Carter. He checked her pulse. It was strong, she was apparently passed out as he had been.
Jack turned back to look at Lo'jess. "Well?" He asked.
"You, you don't know?" Lo'jess stammered.
"No! I don't know!" Jack nearly shouted.
"We are all to be sold into slavery." Lo'jess confessed timidly.
"What!" Jack spun around and glared at the young man. "Why are we being sold into slavery?"
"I don't know why you are" Lo'jess began, "but my amator is very sick. I could not leave her alone so I did not go to my work. They came and got me and put me here to be sold as a slave"
"Have you seen any others like us?" Jack asked as he indicated the clothes he was wearing.
"No." Lo'jess shook his head. Then he nodded toward the still sleeping form of Major Carter. "Is she your amator?" He asked.
"My what?" O'Neill asked
"Your, uh,... your mate."
"Oh. No. She and I ah,... work together"
"That is too bad." Lo'jess said dropping his eyes to the floor and looking profoundly worried.
His demeanor made Jack nervous. "Why is that?" he asked.
"Well," Lo'jess stammered "She is a beautiful woman. They will sell her to the brothels"
"What!" Jack exclaimed.
"It is very bad there. Many men will attack her. If she resists they will kill her." Lo'jess paused for a moment. "It is too bad she is not your amator, your ah, mate"
"What would happen to her if she was?" Jack asked.
"Then the two of you would be sold together, as a pair, and she would not be sent to the brothels"
"Here in your land, how do you prove that someone is your mate? Do you have papers, rings, what?"
Lo'jess looked confused. "We do not need proof. We merely declare in front of a witness that we wish to claim one as our mate."
"And this is binding?" Jack asked.
"It is." Lo'jess replied
Jack knelt on the hard flagstone floor by the cot where Sam was still passed out. He grabbed her shoulders and gently shook her. "Sam, wake up!" He said in a tone that was urgent but not harsh.
"Huh?" She reached up and put her hand over Jack's.
"Sam, you've got to wake up." He insisted.
"Colonel? Where are we?" She asked as she struggled to get up. "Oh!" She put her hand to her head and sank back down on the cot.
"Yeah, I know." He said. "But we have bigger problems. I have no idea where Teal'C and Daniel are, but we are going to be sold into slavery. You have to pretend to be my ...ah..." He looked up at Lo'jess. . "Amator" Lo'jess supplied.
"Yeah, what he said, or you will be sent to a brothel!"
"What!" She nearly shouted as she jumped up off the cot.
"I hear the guards coming!" Said Lo'jess.
"Ok, Lo'jess, what do I do to make her my mate?" Jack asked.
"Tell her that you claim her as your mate and kiss her. I will be your witness"
Jack turned to look at Sam who looked totally confused. The footsteps were getting louder. "Sam, I claim you as my mate." He said in a rush. He grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a quick, chaste kiss then turned to Lo'jess. "Ok, is that good enough?"
"Yes. She is now your mate." He said.
Just then four guards appeared outside the cell. The guards wore black tunics, black pants, knee high black boots and carried staff weapons. Jack wondered how the SS fit into this society that seemed to be more ancient Greek or Roman than Nazi. They were not Jaffa, but still carried staff weapons.
"What's going on here? Where are our friends?" Jack demanded of the guards.
"Silence slave!" The head guard shouted and the other 3 guards immediately aimed their staff weapons at him.
The head guard signaled to one of his subordinates who unlocked the cell. The three guards then entered while the head guard kept his staff weapon trained on Sam. He said "Do not attempt anything slave or I will kill the woman."
Jack figured this was as good of time as any to make his claim on Carter. "No! Don't hurt her, she's my mate!"
"What!" Exclaimed the leader. "She is to be sent to the brothels by order of the Protectorate."
"It is true." said Lo'jess. "She is his amator."
"Very well, the Protectorate will get more money for a man and his mate than a mere woman."
Sam bristled but said nothing. To his men, the guard said "Shackle those two together." He indicated Sam and Jack.
"Yes m'lord." Said one of the guards as he placed an iron shackle on Sam's left ankle and Jack's right ankle. Then he placed a wrist shackle on Sam's left wrist and Jack's right wrist. The other guard put ankle and wrist manacles on Lo'jess and shoved him toward the open cell door.
"Colonel, what the hell is going on?" Sam demanded to know.
"Major, I don't know any more than you do." He hissed back.
"Move!" Shouted the head guard as he shoved his staff weapon into the Colonel's back.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm moving!" Jack growled.
The guards led them down a long corridor with rough hewn rock walls illuminated by torches set at 45 degree angles out from the walls. The corridor opened up into a small auditorium with the prisoners standing on what appeared to be a stage. From another corridor Jack and Sam heard a familiar voice.
"Um, look, there must be some mistake here, we are friends of the Protectorate." It was Daniel Jackson.
Daniel and Teal'C were shoved onto the stage along with a haggard looking woman and an old man.
"Daniel, Teal'C! Are you guys alright?" Sam questioned.
"We are physically unharmed Major Carter." Teal'c said.
"Daniel, what the hell is going on here?" Jack continued "The last thing I remember was that wine the Protectorate had us all drinking."
"I don't know Jack, but it appears that we were drugged." Said Daniel.
"Ya think!" Jack said in his most sarcastic voice. "I warned you about not eating and drinking the local cuisine but did you listen? NO!"
Just then the Protectorate himself appeared on the stage with Adjeck at his side.
"Um, Protectorate, thank goodness you're here to rescue us." Daniel Jackson blurted.
"You are mistaken Doctor Jackson. I am the one who had you sent here."
"But, ...why?" Stammered Daniel.
"The Tauri!" He nearly spat the word in his hatred. "You think we are simpletons! That we don't know the value of our naquada?"
"Uh..." Daniel stammered.
"We have a very delicate balance here Doctor Jackson." The Protectorate went on. "Our people, our slaves, mine the naquada and the Gou'ald send a ship every 3rd lunar cycle to collect. We send it to them through the ring device. In return for the naquada they leave our world alone. As long as we mine it for them they see no reason to bother with us. There are not many of us on this planet, they have no need to enslave us when they get what they want for free"
"But you're enslaving your own people for cryin' out loud!" Jack said, a little too boisterously.
"They are our people Colonel O'Neill. We are free to do with them as we please. At least they are not enslaved by an alien race." And with that comment the Protectorate sneered at Teal'c.
"So, why didn't you just say you weren't interested in trading? Why all the subterfuge?" Asked Daniel "We would have gone away, I mean we will still go away, and not bother you again."
"We can lock your planet out of our dialing computer." Sam added helpfully.
"No!" Responded the Protectorate. "We cannot risk the Goa'uld finding out that you made contact with us. We have a delicate balance here and you are a threat to our very existence!"
Adjeck spoke up "Not to mention that because of our very small population we are always in need of more slaves to work the mines. It couldn't have worked out better for us"
"You know our people will come looking for us." Jack piped in.
"We are counting on it Colonel. They too, will become slaves in our mines." Stated Adjeck.
"My Captain tells me that you, Colonel, claimed the Major as your mate to save her from a life of prostitution."
Daniel and Teal'C exchanged worried glances.
"How noble of you. But no mind, that works in our favor too. Our population is small and your children will be taken from you immediately and become citizens of our world." The Protectorate gloated.
"Our children! What the hell are you talking about! We are so NOT having any children, I can guarantee you that!" Shouted Major Carter.
"That is too bad Major. I'm sure the men who guard the slaves in the mines will be quite pleased when I make a present of you to them!" The Protectorate's voice was oily.
Suddenly one of the Nazi guards approached the Protectorate and bowed deeply. "Sir," he said, the men are here for the slave auction and are anxious to begin."
Another Nazi ushered in one more woman, who looked to be about 18 and a young man in his 20's. The Protectorate pointed toward the young man who had just been brought in "He looks strong, he will fetch a high price. As for the Major and the Colonel..." he turned toward them, "Colonel, although you have claimed Major Carter as your mate our marriage laws are not binding on you. You may work in the mines and Carter will be given to the men"
"No!" Jack responded vehemently. "I claimed her and I meant it!"
"Very well." Said the Protectorate. "Send the four Tau'ri to the mines. Do not sell them."
"This is worse than Simarka!" Samantha Carter couldn't contain her anger. But she had learned from years of field experience that this was one fight that she couldn't win. She would let Jack `claim her' any day over being sold into prostitution.
"And what of this one?" The head Nazi indicated Lo'jess. "I have worked in the mines before, Protectorate, when I had a debt to pay." Lo'jess confessed humbly.
"Very Well." said the Protectorate. He turned to the head Nazi and with a wave of his hand said "Send this one with the Tau'ri. All the rest of these go on the auction block." With that the Protectorate was gone.
The Nazi guards shoved the rest of the `slaves' into a straight line on the small flagstone stage as the prospective buyers shuffled to the stone benches facing the stage.
The slave buyers were an eclectic group. Some wore filthy clothes and looked like escaped criminals. Others appeared to be upper middle class and a few even wealthy. The bidding began with the young woman. She wept silently as two rival brothel owners haggled over her. Finally, the wealthier looking of the two won the bidding and she was taken off the stage. The other brothel owner purchased the haggard looking older woman.
He said to his rival "My patrons won't care, as long as she is breathing."
His cold comment sent a shiver down Sam's back.
Several of the men were showing great interest in Major Carter until the head guard told them she was not for sale.
"I feel like a piece of meat on display in a butcher shop!" Sam whispered to Jack
"Silence slave!" shouted one of the guards as he shoved her in the back with his staff weapon.
"Hey! Everybody just play nice now!" Jack said which earned him a painful crack in the back with the staff weapon.
Two of the Nazi guards approached carrying a heavy chain between them. "Captain!" One of the men addressed the head guard, "here is the chain for these slaves"
"Good. Hook them up!"
The chain circled around each prisoner's waist, with 2 separate chains with wrist shackles attached to the chain at each individual's waist. Teal'C was chained at the head of the line. A three foot length of chain separated him from Daniel, who was second in line. Lo'jess was in the middle of the line, followed by Colonel O'Neill and 3 feet of chain later, at the end of the line, was Major Carter.
The Captain addressed the new slaves. "Do not attempt to escape. My guards carry modified staff weapons that inflict great pain. While it will take several simultaneous hits from one of these weapons to kill you, that is not their main purpose. They are meant to keep you in line with the pain they will cause to be endured." With that he walked away and mounted his horse. Some of his higher ranking guards also rode horses but the rest walked, some in front of the SG1 officers, some behind them and half a dozen on either side of them.
"Move slaves!" Shouted one of the guards from behind the group and gave Sam a shove in the back causing her to stumble forward.
SG1 and their new friend, Lo'jess moved out in a single file line, trudging along in silence.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
After 2 days of hiking, the entourage finally arrived at the mines. As they approached the mine, all of SG1 were scanning and assessing the area, looking for a way to escape.
The group was paraded down the main street of a village that was home to the guards that worked the mines. There were a few shops, several taverns and brothels. Off duty guards were everywhere. Most were dressed in the same uniforms as the guards that escorted the `slaves' except that their uniforms were brown instead of black.
Once past the village, a large rocky outcrop loomed in view. At the base of the high, craggy, rock formation, was what appeared to be a huge entrance to a cave. As far as anyone could see there was only one way in or out of the rock mountain and it was through the cave entrance that lay in front of SG1.
The Captain of the guard dismounted and tied his horse to a post outside the entrance of the cave and then signaled his men to bring SG1 forward. There were half a dozen Jaffa guarding the entrance to the mine. The Captain strode up to the head Jaffa, indicated the prisoners and said "New workers for the mine."
One of the Jaffa looked at Teal'c, shouted "Shol'va!" and shot him with a blast from his modified staff weapon. Teal'c crumpled in a heap writhing in pain.
Before Jack could even protest the Captain of the guard turned on the Jaffa and shouted "He is not your concern! Leave him to us and do not harm him again!" The Captain then grabbed Teal'c by the arm and drug him to his feet. "Follow me!" He commanded and led the way into the cave.
As they entered the cave, the group found themselves in a wide, rough hewn passageway. The guards led them down the steep sloping passageway about 200 yards until the passage opened up onto a huge, domed area with a stage carved out of rock at the far end. The Captain of the guard waved a hand device in front of a lighted panel and a force field disengaged.
"Sir, that's Goa'uld shield technology." Carter whispered to O'Neill.
After SG1 was completely in the domed room, the Captain waved the device again and turned the force field back on. The group, still in chains, was led down to the stage and made to stand in a straight line in front of the dias. Suddenly a huge man appeared, wearing the brown Nazi-type uniform, with many badges and insignia.
The man looked at the group before him with dark, malevolent eyes. After surveying the group the man stated, "My name is Claudio and I am the Supreme Ruler of this facility"
"What I wouldn't give to have the Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet here right now." Jack replied sardonically.
Without hesitation, one of the guards shot Jack with a modified staff weapon and he went down in a heap twisting in pain. Sam immediately knelt beside him and checked his vital signs. She looked up angrily at Claudio, her hand still on Jack's chest, but said nothing.
When Jack was again able to stand, Claudio continued. "There is no escape from this facility. This is a very wealthy mine, we not only remove naquada, but crystals that the Goa'uld use for many applications, as well as a mineral we call fire chondrite that our own people use. If you don't work, you don't eat. You will earn tokens based on your quotas. The tokens can be exchanged for food, blankets, clothes and other necessities. You will not receive any of these items until you have earned enough tokens to buy them"
The captain of the guard who had brought SG1 to this facility, handed an official looking envelope to Claudio. The man opened it and read silently. He looked down at the group in front of him and finally his eyes fell on Jack. "You are the one called O'Neill." It was a statement not a question.
"Yeah..."
Claudio waved the letter he had been handed in the air "This is an order from the Protectorate. It says that if your woman," he glared at Sam for a moment before continuing "is not pregnant in 2 lunar cycles I am to give her to my guards."
SG1 stood in front of the dias in stunned silence.
Claudio waved a hand at a man who stood to his right on the stage. "This is my Sergeant of arms, Dra'coe. He will lead you to your quarters." With that Claudio disappeared.
Dra'coe, who was phyiscally about the size of Teal'c, climbed down off the stage and surveyed the strange group in front of him. He had greasy brown hair that hung to his shoulders, he was missing several teeth, and smelled as if he hadn't taken a shower in weeks.
He walked down the line of prisoners stopping in front of Daniel Jackson. He punched Daniel in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
"Hey! What'd ya do that for!" Jack asked angrily and received a crack in the back that sent him to his knees.
Finally, Dra'coe came to Sam. "Yellow hair and blue eyes, we do not see this much in the mines. I will make you mine!" He whispered in Sam's face with putrid breath. Sam made a face and turned her head away.
"No you won't buddy!" Jack said, still kneeling on the floor "She is mine!"
Dra'coe nodded slightly at one of his guards and Jack was hit once more by a painful burst from a staff weapon.
Dra'coe glared down at Jack until Jack's eyes were again able to focus on him. Then he grabbed Sam's chin with his left hand and licked her face from her chin up to her eyebrows. She tried to pull away from him and when she could not stifle a "Yuck!" Dra'coe slapped her across the face.
"Hey!" Jack shouted
"No! Colonel, its ok." She said, not wanting Jack to receive another vitriolic blast on her account.
Dra'coe was tiring of his game and waved a dismissive hand at one of his guards. "Take them to their quarters." He said and stomped away.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The guard led SG1 and Lo'jess down another rock hewn passageway about 300 yards. At that point the passageway forked out in 3 different directions. The guard led them through the passage that was the farthest to the left. After another 50 yards the group began to pass cubicles carved out of the rock. A few women began appearing from the cubicles and eyed the men of SG1 with lust. Some of the more wanton women approached the group and began touching the men. From all around them they heard comments like "That one is mine!" "Oh, he's big!" "I want that one!" "Hey! I love you"
All of SG1 felt very uneasy as the guard led them down yet another passage that branched off the one they had been on. No women came out and there were no more comments made to the group.
Finally the guard stopped in front of a cubicle. "These are your quarters." He stated. "You will not get any food, blankets, medical supplies or anything else until you have earned the tokens to buy them"
At that point he began unlocking the chains that held SG1 and Lo'jess and indicated that they should enter their new quarters.
The opening to the cubicle was about five feet wide and there was no door, no bars, no barrier of any kind. The chamber was about 15 feet square, lit by two torches on either side of the room that cast eerie shadows about the compartment. In the center of the room was a pit that still contained a cook pot hanging from a metal tripod. In the right corner of the compartment a 3 foot square area was separated from the main living area with a wooden screen.
Jack indicated the screen and said to Lo'jess "And I assume that is the, uh"
"Toilet area." Lo'jess supplied.
"Ah"
There were four wooden pallets, each about 3 feet off the floor and attached to the walls with chains, but no blankets or bedding of any kind. A wooden bucket sat in one corner of the room.
"We will need water." Lo'jess indicated the bucket. "I will show you were to get it."
Jack nodded, Daniel picked up the bucket and the entire group followed Lo'jess out of their `cell.'
Lo'jess led them farther and deeper into the mine until they began to hear running water. They soon came to an underground spring where Lo'jess said that everyone got their drinking water. He then led them to another area where a community bath was hewn into the stone. There were four baths, each about 10 feet square and 3 feet deep. "They only change the water once a week," Lo'jess seemed apologetic "but it is better than no baths."
"Ok, this is great, Lo'jess, but how do we get out of here?" Jack's irritation was clearly showing in his voice.
Lo'jess looked at him with confusion in his eyes as he said gently "There is no way out"
"Oh, there's always a way out." Jack said. "We just have to find it"
"Here is not the place to discuss this." Lo'jess said with fear in his voice.
Just then a loud bell rang through out the mines, clanging 3 times, pausing and clanging 3 more times.
"What does that mean?" Asked Sam.
"All of the workers are being summoned to the great hall. We must go at once"
Lo'jess and SG1 were among the last to arrive in the great hall.
One of the worker/slaves was kneeling on the stage before Claudio as the Supreme Ruler addressed the group gathered in the hall. "This man was caught stealing!" He indicated the man kneeling before him.
"You have been summoned to witness his punishment."
Claudio nodded slightly at Dra'coe who stepped up to the kneeling man. Dra'coe, smiling a wicked, toothless grin, took the man's left hand and placed it on a large block of wood, then he pulled out a huge, thick sword and with one swift movement sliced off the man's hand.
The man screamed in pain, blood spurting everywhere.
"He'll bleed to death!" Daniel shouted to Jack over the noise in the room.
"Not our problem, Daniel" Jack said with a warning tone in his voice.
Although Daniel wanted to do something, anything, he knew Jack was right. They hung to the back of the room, said nothing and watched in amazement.
Claudio pulled out a small, cylindrical hand device and waved it over the wounded man's wrist. It appeared to cauterize the wound instantly.
"Carter, is that a Goa'uld healing device?"
"No, Sir. It's technology I've never seen before."
Claudio again addressed the workers assembled in the Great Hall. "For anyone breaking the rules the punishment is swift. Now back to work!" He barked.
The group of workers mumbled softly as they shuffled out of the hall and back to their work stations and Lo'jess led SG1 back to their compartment.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
As SG1 approached their cell, after returning from witnessing the punishment, Sam stopped dead in her tracks. "Sir!" She said, with an urgency in her voice.
The rest of the group stopped and looked at her expectantly.
"Do you feel that?" She asked.
"What, Carter?" Jack sounded annoyed.
"A breeze"
"Yeah, so"
"Sir, there can only be a breeze in here if there is another opening to the cave somewhere"
"Shh! You mustn't speak of this here!" Lo'jess warned. "We must return to our compartment"
Once back in their cell, Lo'jess explained that the next day a guard would come for them and take them to their assigned areas to work. They would work a 12 hour day and then be given tokens for the day's work. They could then go to concession area and purchase food and other necessities. They could go to the bathing areas, cook their own meals in their cell, and relax before the next day's labor.
"Well, that's slightly better than some of the other times we've been slaves." O'Neill tried to make a joke, but no one laughed so he continued. "If we are allowed to roam around to go to the spring for water, the public baths, the concession areas, then maybe we can wander around and find where Carter's `breeze' is coming from."
"You must be very cautious." Lo'jess warned. "The best time would be early in the morning before the other workers wake up."
"How are the prisoners awakened each day?" The question came from Teal'c.
"A rapid ringing of the bell that lasts for several seconds."
"O'Neill, I would suggest that we wait a day or two until we understand the worker's and guard's schedules before we attempt to find an exit."
"Judging from what we have seen so far, we could easily end up dead, or much worse,"Daniel glanced at Sam "if we are caught wandering around unauthorized areas. I think Teal'c is right, we need to proceed with caution."
"Sir, didn't the Protectorate say that the Goa'uld send a cargo ship every third lunar cycle?"
"You are correct Major Carter. Teal'c stated.
"Ok," Jack began "What if we find the exit to this cave that Carter's breeze indicates must be here, and then ring aboard the cargo ship when it's here to collect the naquada?"
"Sir, without any weapons taking over the Tel'tak... "
"Carter, I didn't say it was an easy plan! I just said it was a plan."
"I noticed that the Jaffa guarding the entrance to the cave serve Aires. He is not a powerful system lord. If his cargo ship goes missing he will not waste his resources to go after it. That is in our favor." Teal'c added helpfully.
"Ok, so, um, one of the first things we need to find out is when the next cargo ship is expected and once we know that we can begin fine tuning the plan." Daniel added.
"Lo'jess, how long is a lunar cycle on this planet?" Sam asked.
"32 days"
"Well, we have to be out of here in under 64 days then." Jack said, looking meaningfully around the group.
Lo'jess looked confused and asked the Colonel "Why must you be free in less than 64 days?"
Jack got a pained look on his face and began to rub his forehead with his right hand.
"Lo'jess" Sam began patiently, "We have to be out of here in less than 64 days because I will not be pregnant."
"And I won't let that slime ball Dra'coe touch her!" Jack added and then realized that his own personal feelings for Sam were showing. He decided he didn't care. He had to make the `amator' thing believable didn't he?
"But, how can you be so positive that you will not be pregnant in 2 lunar cycles?" Lo'jess asked Sam.
Daniel and Teal'c were getting uncomfortable with this line of questioning and both got up and moved around the compartment, checking out their new `home'.
Sam looked at Jack for help but he shrugged his shoulders and looked down uncomfortably at his boots. She also understood the importance of keeping up the `amator' charade and thought it best not to tell anyone that where they came from it was forbidden for Sam and Jack to be lovers.
"Well, for one thing, the Colonel, um...Jack and I are ...ah, ...well, in our society, making love is something that we are not ..., that is, um, it's very private between two people."
"We can ensure that you have privacy." Lo'jess offered earnestly.
"Well, even if we have privacy, I still can't get pregnant."
"Why not?"
"In our world, the women who travel through the stargate, like I do, are required to have a small device surgically implanted in their arms. It prevents pregnancy." Then she added softly, more to herself than to him, "among other things."
Thankfully, the conversation was interrupted by a young woman and her mother who appeared in the doorway. "I heard we had new dwellers and we came to welcome you to our neighborhood." The young woman said. Then she added "My name is Kahtana and this is my mother Brenita."
The young woman appeared to be about17 and her mother, Sam thought, looked to be about 40, but she suspected she was probably only about 35 or 36.
The mother stepped forward. "I know that you will not receive any tokens until tomorrow so I brought you some fire chondrite for your fire pit and some rice. I know it is not much, but it will sustain you until tomorrow."
She handed the gifts to Sam, assuming that as the woman of the group, she would be the one to handle all the domestic chores.
Sam thanked her and placed the fire rocks in the pit in the center of the room and the dry rice in the pot that hung over it. She looked at Lo'jess as if to say `what do I do now?'.
Lo'jess took one of the torches down from the wall and put it to the small stone shards in the fire pit. The stones instantly flamed up like charcoal briquets that had been soaked with lighter fluid. Next, Lo'jess carefully poured an amount of water into the pot with the rice and began stirring it with a stick.
Brenita, the mother, turned back to look at Sam and said "Which of these men is your amator?"
Jack saw the confusion in Sam's face and quickly took a step forward. "That would be me. Jack O'Neill."
Brenita's face broke out in a big smile "It is nice to meet you Jack O'Neill." She said.
"You can just call me Jack."
"Very well, Jack" Brenita turned back to Sam. "He is very handsome. You are very fortunate indeed."
Sam looked positively uncomfortable as she gave Brenita a watery smile.
"So," Brenita turned toward Daniel and Teal'c "you have no Amators?"
The men shifted uneasily under her stare.
"Um, not exactly..."Daniel began.
"But Major Carter takes care of us." Teal'c added firmly.
Sam understood exactly what Teal'c was trying to do. During the Gulf War she had gone bar hopping with some pilots from her squadron. The guys Sam was with had told the working girls in the clubs that she was the girlfriend of all them, so they would leave them alone. The girls in the clubs were dismayed, but left the pilots alone. Teal'c was now trying the same tactic.
"Well, of course she takes care of you" Brenita began, "you are family if you are living together in the same compartment, but it is not the same as having an amator. My amator died a few years ago. Now it is just my daughter Kahtana and my two sons."
Kahtana stepped forward, clearly interested in Daniel, "I have no amator either and I should already have two children by now." She said as she played with the collar of Daniel's BDUs.
"Uh, ok, this is um..." Daniel was clearly flustered. 'She's just a kid!' he thought.
"Daniel Jackson and I have recently lost our mates. It is still very painful and too early for us to consider taking new mates. I am certain that Major Carter will take care of us until we are ready to again take mates."
Daniel nodded thinking `thank you Teal'c!' and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the understanding in the young woman's eyes.
Khatana looked into Daniel's eyes and asked "So you are called Daniel Jackson?"
"Just Daniel is fine." He smiled weakly and took a step back from her.
"Very well, Daniel, I will wait until you have had time to grieve for your lost amator, but then you will be mine, yes?"
Daniel looked uncomfortably around at the other members of SG1 and finally gave a slight nod.
"Good. If you need anything else, my mother, brothers and I are right across the passageway."
"We will see you in the morning." Brenita said and the two left the compartment.
"Well, that was too weird." Daniel said. "Now I guess I know how you feel, Sam."
"Its not quite the same. I don't think Kahtana could take you by force if you said `no' to her." Sam quipped, trying to make light of the situation. But no one said anything, they just thought of the creepy Dra'coe licking Sam's face and telling her that she would be his.
Suddenly two strong, young men appeared in the doorway to the compartment.
"I am sorry to have startled you." the one began, "but our mother, Brenita, asked us to bring these items to you." He held out four blankets with 5 ceramic mugs balancing on top of them. His brother held out 5 ceramic bowls, some spoons and a wooden bucket.
Brenita suddenly re-appeared behind her sons "I noticed you had only one bucket." She began, "you will require a second bucket for washing. I am sorry I do not have pillows for you. The blankets are old, but they will serve you well. You may keep them, as I do not need them. You may also keep the bowls and mugs. Kahtana makes them." She said proudly.
"Thank you very much, Brenita." Sam said, truly impressed with the woman's generosity.
Brenita looked at her again and said "I am so sorry, I asked your amator's name, but what is your name?"
"You can call me Sam." She said smiling at the woman.
"Sam." Brenita tried out the word. "I like it!" She declared. "Sam, do you know where you would like to work in the complex?"
Sam looked confused. "What do you mean? I thought we all just work in the mines."
"Oh no!" Brenita looked shocked. "This is a self sustaining city. The men work the mines and the women have other jobs. As I said, my daughter, Khatana makes pottery. I work in the garment area, sewing the clothes we all wear. Do you sew, Sam?"
"Oh, god! No! Where I'm from I'm a scientist and a warrior."
Brenita looked confused. "Perhaps you could work in the laundry. It requires no special skills."
Daniel snorted as he tried to stifle a chuckle, Jack had a big grin on his face and Teal'c raised one eyebrow and inclined his head slightly. Sam was not amused and decided this was the time to distract everyone from her discomfort. "So," she said, addressing Brenita's sons "How often do the Goa'uld send a cargo ship to collect what you have mined?" She already knew the answer, but figured it was a way to find out when they were next expected.
The question took the young men off guard. "Ah, every third lunar cycle." One of them replied as if she were a complete moron.
Sam nodded and continued "How long until they come for their next ...collection?"
The young men eyed her suspiciously but one of them finally replied "We had a collection 22 days ago."
Jack picked up on the uneasy feeling this line of questioning was receiving and decided he needed to lighten the mood. He stepped up to Sam and put his arm around her shoulder as if they were an old married couple. "So, Brenita, once we get settled in and have earned some...ah..tokens, can we have your family over for dinner, to, ah, repay you for your hospitality?"
Brenita smiled a warm, friendly smile at Jack and said, "That certainly is not necessary, Jack, but we would be pleased to dine with you."
"That's great!" Jack replied in tone that said `You are dismissed.'
"Well, we will leave you so you may get settled in and rest." Brenita smiled at Jack again, and indicated to her sons that they should leave.
"Goodnight and thank you again!" Sam said
"You are most welcome, Sam."
After Brenita's family left, SG1 and Lo'jess ate the rice Brenita had provided, washed the dishes and placed them on a high shelf carved out of the rock wall.
"It will get cold in the caves at night" Lo'jess explained "so, we will have to keep the fire burning all night."
"Ok, Carter, you take first watch, I'll take second, Daniel, you've got third and Teal'c you take the last watch."
"What about me? I can take a watch too." Lo'jess sounded hurt that Jack did not assign a watch to him.
"It's alright, Lo'jess, we're not just watching that the fire doesn't go out, but we want to make sure no one comes in here and tries to hurt us while we are sleeping." Daniel gently explained.
"I can do that too." Lo'jess still sounded hurt.
"I'll tell you what, after you have seen us stand watch a few times so you know what to do, we'll let you have a turn." Daniel said while looking at Jack and imploring him to play along. Jack shrugged and Lo'jess accepted that as a confirmation that he would indeed be added to the watch bill.
"Sir, we have a problem with your plan. The Goa'uld won't be back for 74 days and we have to be out of here in 63 days."
"I know that, Carter."
"I believe that Colonel O'Neill's plan can still succeed. We will have to lay in enough supplies that we may survive outside of this complex for 11 days. While the plan is risky, I believe it has a greater potential for success than attempting to reach the Stargate."
Jack smiled at Teal'c's approval of his plan and said "Not to mention the little added bonus of stealing a cargo ship full of naquada!"
Everyone sat in silence staring into the fire for a time when Lo'jess finally spoke. "There is a privacy curtain above the opening to our compartment, that may be rolled down while we sleep. I will show you."
Lo'jess stood, walked to the doorway and rolled down a gray canvas curtain. He turned and looked at the group "Jack and Sam should take that pallet." he indicated the pallet on the left side of the compartment "It is the largest. I will take that pallet." Lo'jess indicated the pallet on the right wall near the screened off toilet area.
"Daniel Jackson and I will take these pallets." Teal'c indicated the bunks that he and Daniel were sitting on that were located across the back wall of the compartment. The bunks were nothing more than a heavy wood slab attached to the cavern wall with chains on each end. `At least,' thought Daniel, `they are up off the floor'.
The members of SG1 looked around at each other uneasily. Finally Sam spoke. "I'll wake you in two hours for your watch sir."
Jack nodded.
Lo'jess extinguished the torches attached to the wall, stirred the fire and handed the stick to Sam before crawling into his bed and pulling the blanket over him.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Sam had awakened Jack after two hours and now he sat on the cold stone floor and poked the dimming fire with a stick. Jack's watch was nearly up and he looked around at his sleeping friends, but his eyes lingered on the sleeping form of Samantha Carter.
He thought about Jonah and Thera and how nice it had been not to have to hide his feelings for her. Jack knew that in this place he had to show his feelings for Sam or she would be dead. He knew without a doubt that if that creepy Dra'coe doubted Sam and Jack's feelings for each other he would not wait 64, no Jack corrected himself, now it was 63 days, before he took Carter.
Jack hauled himself up off the floor and went over to Daniel's bunk. "Daniel!" He whispered as he shook the archeologist's shoulder.
"Danny"
"Huh? What?"
"It's your watch."
"Oh, Jack, yeah right." Daniel sat up on the edge of the bunk trying to wake himself.
"Here." Jack handed him the fire stirring stick. "Have fun."
Jack walked over to where Sam was sleeping. She was laying on her side, her face to the wall and her back to him. He took off his BDU shirt and folded it into a pillow and put it on the bunk. Then he crawled into the rack with Sam wearing a black t-shirt and his BDU trousers as Sam was.
The bed was small so he spooned up against her back and put his right arm around her waist. Jack was aware that Daniel had watched him and he wondered what the archeologist was thinking. He decided it wasn't worth worrying about and soon drifted off to sleep.
A loud continuous ringing of a bell made all of SG1 jerk awake, except for Teal'c who had had the last watch and was already up. Lo'jess quickly rose and rolled up the privacy curtain.
Although no one had asked him he announced "It is forbidden to have the curtain down except during sleeping hours."
Within five minutes a guard appeared at SG1's quarters. He looked at Sam. "What talents do you possess? Where do you want to work?"
"Ah..." She stammered "The laundry, I guess."
The guard nodded then addressed the men. "The rest of you will come with me."
"Wait!" It was Brenita, the neighbor from across the passageway. "Here." She said as she pressed a loaf of bread into Colonel O'Neill's hands. "It is not much, but it will have to sustain you until your evening meal."
"Thank you, Brenita." He said.
The guard looked at Sam "Wait here until I return." She nodded and he led Lo'jess and the rest of SG1 away.
"Sam, I forgot to tell you yesterday, that the women are allowed to use the public baths during the day and the men are allowed to use them at night. Also, the women fix meals at midday for their men and the men are allowed to come home for lunch. Since you have no tokens you cannot fix anything for your men. I hope the bread will be enough for them until the evening meal."
"Brenita, I can't tell you how much we appreciate everything you are doing for us." Sam said with complete sincerity.
"It is nothing. But I must get to work now. Goodbye, Sam." And Brenita left the compartment.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
About 15 minutes after the guard led the men of SG1 to the mines he returned for Sam. He directed her down yet another passageway that opened up on the laundry area. The laundry was similar to the public baths. There were 4 `tubs' build out of rock, each 10 feet square with walls 3 feet high. Two of the vats had soapy water and 2 of them had clear water. A Roman aqueduct type system appeared to provide the water for the vats and the entire back of the area was open to the outdoors!
A large woman in a blue, floor length dress wearing a long white apron came over to Sam. "What is your name?" She demanded.
"Sam"
"I am in charge of the laundry. You may call me Ledra. Let me explain to you what to do. Each compartment in the complex sends their laundry on a specific day of the week. The laundry is sent in a canvas bag with the owner's name on it. You will dump the laundry and the canvas bag into one of the soapy pools and stir it with this" She showed Sam what looked like a row boat oar.
"Next, you will take the clothes out of the soapy pool with the pole and put them in the rinse pool. When the items are rinsed you will fish them out with your stick and crank them through this machine."
She indicated an old fashioned ringer with a hand crank.
"When the excess water is removed, you will put the clothes in one of these baskets" Ledra pointed to a stack of wicker baskets "then take the clothes outside and put them on one of the clothes lines to dry. Hang the canvas bag where each family's clothes begin so that you do not get them confused. When all the bags of clothes have been washed we drain the pools and refill them with clean water for tomorrow's laundry. You may then go home to fix lunch for your family. After lunch you return and take the clothes that you washed off the line, fold them and put them back in the canvas bag and place them in this area for the owners to pick up after work. Do you have any questions?"
The only question Sam had was `what is preventing me from going outside and running away?' but she figured she could find that one out on her own. "No." she said.
"Good." The stout woman said. "Here." She handed Sam a wooden oar then indicated where the canvas bags full of dirty clothes were piled up on the floor "Get to work!"
There were about 8 women working in the laundry area. Sam went right to work and tried to carry on light conversations with the other workers. By the end of the day she knew that the large outdoor area, where the clotheslines were, was completely encircled with a force field and the controls for the force field were in Dra'coe's quarters.
Toward the end of the day a young woman with dark black hair spoke to Sam. "One of the best things about working in the laundry is that at the end of the day, after we drain the washing pools, we may take showers here before we re-fill the pools for tomorrow."
The young woman indicated the overhead, gravity flow piping that was used to fill the pools. "This way we do not have to cleanse ourselves in the dirty water in the public baths and we do not have to wait in long lines either, as there are just a few of us who work here"
Sam was actually quite happy to be able to take a shower as she hadn't had one since they left earth; four days ago. The water was only lukewarm but Sam didn't care. One of the other laundry workers loaned her some soap, and while she didn't have a towel, Sam still felt immensely better after her shower.
Finally, she was paid her wages for the day, 2 tokens, and sent `home'.
Carter had been in her team's quarters for about half an hour when the rest of SG1 and Lo'jess returned. Sam thought that Brenita, the neighbor from across the passageway, must have been watching for SG1 to return because before they could do anything but sit down on their racks, Brenita was there.
"Good evening." She said cheerily. "I thought I would take Sam shopping while you all go to the public baths."
The men looked wearily from one to the other, but no one said anything. Finally, Brenita spoke again. "You did earn tokens did you not?"
"Yeah." Jack said. "Daniel, Lo'jess and I earned 5 tokens each and Teal'c earned 7. How much did you get paid, Carter?"
"I only got 2 tokens." Sam said, clearly disgruntled by the disparity.
"Well," offered Brenita, "you do have a job that requires no skill."
Sam really hated this place.
"Ok, fine." Jack jumped in before Sam could say anything "let's all give our tokens to Carter and go find those baths."
On the way to the concession area Sam asked Brenita "So, is 24 tokens a lot for a day's work?"
"For a group new to the community it is very good. Over time you will be able to earn more."
Soon the two women arrived at an area where vendors had set up booths selling their various wares. "It is Khatana's day to work late at the vending area." Brenita stated as she waved at her daughter. "You will not need to buy anything from her today as you have the bowls and mugs I gave you. Your first stop must be at the food stand."
Brenita led Sam to the largest of the booths where fresh food was laid out on tables. It reminded Sam of a Farmer's Market. "Where does all this come from?" She asked Brenita.
"There are farms a distance from the mines. They send meat and produce to the mines everyday." Brenita had brought a small wicker basket in which to put her purchases. She walked up to the vendor with authority. "My friend needs 1 pound of the cubed meat, 5 potatoes, 5 carrots, 1 onion, 5 pounds of rice and 2 loaves of bread."
Sam just stared at the woman as she rattled off the list of items. The man behind the table nodded, wrapped the meat in paper, pulled out a cloth bag of rice and counted out the carrots, potatoes and one onion. "That will be 9 tokens."
Sam counted out the tokens and handed them over as Brenita put the items in her basket. "Next you will need a knife to cut your vegetables and your bread." She pulled Sam by the arm and led her to another table that held cooking pots and cutlery.
"They allow the slaves to own knives?" Sam asked incredulously.
"Were you present yesterday for the punishment?" Brenita asked, her light mood darkening.
"Yes..." Sam said warily.
"Then you should know that the punishment for using a knife as a weapon is death."
Sam swallowed hard. She had considered carrying the knife around as protection from Dra'coe.
Brenita picked out a small knife with a serrated edge and Sam handed over 4 tokens.
"Come." Brenita ordered and Carter followed her to a booth where fire chondrite was sold. "We need a 10 pound bag of fire chondrite." Brenita stated to the clerk who hefted the bag on to the table. Sam handed over 5 tokens and Brenita drug her off to the booth where blankets, towels and pillows were sold.
"How many tokens do you have remaining, Sam?"
"Four."
"Then you will need to buy one of these towels. They are only four tokens. Your family will have to share until you can buy more."
With all of Sam's tokens spent, the two women returned to their compartments. Sam thanked Brenita for helping her and then set about making a stew with the ingredients Brenita had insisted Sam purchase. By the time the men returned from the baths, the stew was actually beginning to smell quite good.
As SG1 and their adopted member, Lo'jess, ate their stew, Sam told them about the outdoor area in the laundry and force field.
"The force field is obviously Goa'uld technology, Sir. Since the controls are in Dra'coe's private quarters I could pretend to be interested in him and have him take me to his quarters..."
Jack cut her off before she could say another word "Absolutely not Major and that is an order! Don't even think about it! You wouldn't come out of there alive"
She knew he was right and felt completely frustrated and useless with the restraints and expectations that were put on her as a woman in this society. She looked down at her boots for awhile before she spoke again. "I need to warn you, all of you" she looked at each member of the group, "Brenita told me when we purchased this paring knife that the use of a knife as a weapon here is an offense that is punishable by death"
"Ah, well, that's good to know." Said Daniel as he adjusted his glasses.
"I suspected as much." Teal'c stated. "They told us the same thing about the tools used to mine the naquada. We are forbidden to remove them from the mining area and using them as weapons is punishable by death."
"Ok, ok, enough of the pleasantries, when can we go exploring and looking for another way out of this place?" O'Neill asked, eager to change the subject.
"As I have last watch, O'Neill, I could awaken everyone an hour early and we could explore then." Teal'c offered.
"Alright, let's do it. Same watches as last night." Jack said and everyone got ready for bed except for Sam who sat on the floor, staring into the burning rocks and occasionally poking them with the stick.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Teal'c's watch began at 0300. As Daniel had the watch before Teal'c, Lo'jess waited until Daniel was settled in his rack and lightly snoring before he quietly got up and went to sit beside Teal'c on the floor.
"Will you teach me how to stand watch?"
"Indeed, I will."
Lo'jess stared into the fire for a time before speaking. "Life here in the mines is not that bad. Why is it so important for you and your friends to escape?"
Teal'c looked at the innocent young man and stated "Where we are from we are free. We do not serve false gods and our people do not enslave us."
Lo'jess nodded slowly. "I have never known what it is like to be free." He said softly.
"I did not know either until I met O'Neill."
"O'Neill freed you?" Lo'jess asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"I freed myself, with O'Neill's help. It is not easy, but you can do it as well."
"Will you take me with you when you escape this place?" Lo'jess pleaded.
"We will." Teal'c promised.
The two sat in silence for a time. "Teal,c, why does Sam call O'Neill `Sir' and `Colonel' and why does he call her `Carter' and `Major?
"They have a very difficult relationship. Because they are both warriors for the Tau'ri, they are not permitted to have feelings for each other."
"But, they do. I saw it in them the first day when we were to be sold. O'Neill would have done anything to prevent her from being sold to the brothels."
"Just because they are forbidden to express feelings does not mean that they do not have them. They care very deeply for each other, but until the Goa'uld are no longer a threat, they understand that their duty is to their world."
Lo'jess sat in silence trying to understand all that Teal'c had told him.
Finally Teal'c spoke again "It is time to awaken our team so that we may begin our search for a way to escape."
Teal'c walked over to the sleeping forms of Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. "O'Neill." He whispered. "O'Neill, you must awaken."
"Teal'c? What is it?" The Colonel rolled over and tried to get his eyes to focus on the Jaffa standing over him.
"It is time to begin our search for an escape route"
"Oh, yeah, ok. Carter!" He touched her shoulder "Carter, wake up"
"Uh,...Sir?"
"Time to get up Carter." Jack rolled out of the rack and put on his boots.
Daniel was standing near the fire rubbing his eyes with his left hand and holding his glasses in his right. "What I wouldn't give for a cup of coffee right now!" he groused.
"We must maintain silence, Daniel Jackson."
"Considering what we have seen of the geography of the caves, I think we should begin our search near the underground springs where we get our drinking water." Sam said as she laced up her boots.
"Alright, lets head out then." Jack moved to the doorway and looked out from behind the curtain to see if anyone was in the passageway. The Colonel gave hand signals to indicate the passage was clear and SG1 slipped out from behind the curtains. Lo'jess grabbed the two water buckets and followed the group.
When they reached the spring, the group fanned out exploring all the rocky out-croppings and low lying areas. They looked over head, and followed every ridge and valley they could find in the area. The spring bubbled up into a large, natural pool with what appeared to be a solid rock wall behind it.
As Major Carter was examining the rock wall that was about 10 yards behind the pool, she found a narrow, natural passageway that ascended at a steep angle. She held her torch up for more visibility and carefully began to climb up the dark, narrow space. About 20 yards up the passage, the rock seemed to split and the passage grew narrower and continued at a sharp angle to the left. The overhead was now just a few feet high and Sam had to bend over to continue climbing up the passageway.
Suddenly she saw a faint sliver of grey light shining through the end of the passage. She put her torch down and crawled on all fours to examine where the light was coming from. There was a small crack in the rock about two inches wide and 18 inches high. She put her eye up to the crack and peered out. Trees! Lush green foliage and trees! This had to be the back side of the rock formation they saw as they entered the cave. The village and Jaffa were on the other side of the cave. They could hide out in the woods, if they could tunnel out of there.
Excitedly, she grabbed her torch and worked her way down out of the tight cavern. "Sir!" She said in an urgent whisper "I found it! Only problem is, we are going to have to dig our way out."
"Show me." Commanded the Colonel and she led him back up the narrow, sloping rock channel.
After Jack examined the crack in the rock wall they returned to where their friends waited by the spring. "Ok, let's get back to our compartment. We'll figure it out there." Jack said.
Lo'jess filled the buckets with fresh water and the group quietly eased their way back to their compartment.
"We'll need tools to chisel the rock away in order to get out of here." Jack said when they were safely back in their compartment.
"Er, but Jack, we can't take tools out of the mine and I suspect the punishment is severe for just having tools." Daniel stated.
"I know! I know!" He said in frustration. "What I wouldn't give for some C-4!"
"Wait, perhaps there is something we could get from the cutlery vendor that we could modify for our use. Also, in the laundry we use very heavy wooden oars which could be used as handles for the tools. I'm sure I would have no problem stealing an oar."
"Uh, Sam, did you forget what happened to that guy who got caught stealing when we first arrived here?" Daniel asked.
"Oh, yeah." She replied dejectedly.
"Ok, ok, lets not give up so easily. We have found the way out, now we just have to build the tools to get us out of here." Jack began.
"Sam, they seem to sell all kinds of stuff in the concession area so you will just have to buy whatever you can that we can modify for our use." Daniel said.
"Ah, first she needs to buy us all some new socks and underwear!" Jack grimaced. "We've been wearing this stuff for 5 days now and I want some clean underwear!"
The conversation was interrupted by the rapid ringing of the bell that indicated it was time for everyone to arise.
Lo'jess rolled up the privacy curtain, they all ate some bread and then headed off to work. At the end of the day Jack and Lo'jess had each earned 6 tokens, Teal'c had earned 8 and Daniel had earned 5. There was no quota for the laundry, Sam's salary was always just 2 tokens.
As the men headed off for the public baths, Sam took her 28 tokens and went across the hall to see if Brenita wanted to go shopping with her.
When Sam called into her neighbor's compartment Khatana came forward. "It is my mother's turn to work in the concession area tonight, however, I will be glad to accompany you there."
Khatana grabbed the wicker basket and the two women started out toward the concession area. "Tell me about Daniel Jackson." Khatana sounded like a 16 year old high school girl and in fact, Sam figured she wasn't much older than that.
"Daniel's wife was very beautiful," she began "her name was Shar'ae"
"How did she die?"
"She was taken by the Goa'uld." Sam stated simply.
"But they are gods. Why would they kill her?"
"They aren't gods Khatana, they just scare people into believing that they are."
The young girl looked perplexed but, to Sam's relief, said nothing more until they arrived at the concession area.
"Do you have coffee?" Sam asked the food vendor.
He looked confused. "What is coffee?"
"Well, it is a hard bean that we grind up and use to make a hot beverage." `God, I sound just like Teal'c!' she thought.
"No, we do not have ground up beans, but we have leaves that we use to make hot drinks."
"Fine. I'll take some of those."
Again she purchased 1 pound of cubed meat, 5 potatoes, 1 onion and 5 apples instead of carrots. She thought they could have them for dessert. She got 2 loaves of a hearty multi-grain bread this time and paid 8 tokens for her purchases.
Sam turned to Khatana. "Take me to your mother's booth." she said.
When they arrived at Brenita's booth, Sam told her that she needed to purchase socks and underwear for her entire team. The boxer type shorts Brenita showed Sam did not have elastic, but were held up by a drawstring. Brenita chose the sizes for all four men and picked out some women's undergarments for Sam.
The socks also did not have elastic, as it was technology that these people did not possess. At this point Sam didn't care and told Brenita she needed 5 pairs. Sam paid 15 tokens for the items and then asked Brenita if one of vendors sold soap.
The woman selling soap had various soaps, oils, candles and fragrances. Most of the soap was simple lye soap, but the woman's expensive line included a glycerine based soap that Sam thought smelled like lemons. It was 3 tokens for a small bar, but Sam bought it anyway.
Again, her tokens spent, Sam and Khantana returned to their respective compartments.
After the evening meal, Sam gave everyone their new underwear and informed the team that in the morning she would need their t-shirts, old socks and underwear and their one towel so that she could wash them.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The next day as Sam was on her way back to the compartment to fix lunch for her team she ran headlong into Dra'coe.
"Yellow hair!" Dra'coe exclaimed as he saw her in the passageway.
"Please let me pass!" Sam said to him as he blocked her way.
"You are a fiery one Yellow Hair! How about giving me a sample now?"
"No, I don't think so." She said evenly, trying to maintain her composure.
"You do not understand. I get whatever I want and I am not used to waiting." He started to reach for her when she heard Jack's voice behind her.
"Not gonna happen Drae, old buddy!" he said as he walked up behind Sam, his chest brushing her back. Jack put his left arm completely across her chest and closed his fingers around her right shoulder. He purposely kept his right hand free, just in case.
Dra'coe scowled and pushed past Sam and rest of SG1. Once he was gone Sam let out a breath and her back visibly sagged into Jack's chest. "Thank you, Sir."
"Don't mention it Carter." He said as he instantly let her go. "What's for lunch?" He asked casually as if nothing had happened.
Later that afternoon, just after Sam had taken her shower in the laundry room and put on the underwear that she had washed that morning, one of the guards came to escort her to see Claudio, the Supreme Ruler of the mining complex.
When she arrived in the great hall Jack was already there standing in front of the dias staring up at a malicious looking Claudio. Standing next to Claudio, looking very smug, was Dra'coe.
Once Sam was standing beside Jack, Claudio came down off the stage holding the cylindrical medical device they had seen him use on the man who had been punished for stealing. Claudio made a big show of sweeping the device back and forth in close proximity to Sam. He moved it up and down as if scanning her body and the tiny machine made whirring noises. Jack thought it looked like the medical scanner Dr. McCoy used on Star Trek.
"My suspicions have been confirmed, Major Carter. Your marriage to Colonel O'Neill has not been consummated. In fact, it has been a very long time since anyone has mated with you." Sam felt her cheeks flush and she knew Colonel O'Neill was looking at her, but she could not look at him.
Claudio continued to speak while Dra'coe stood on the stage and stared down at Sam with an evil, lustful look in his eyes. "The Protectorate was quite clear. You have just 61 days left to get pregnant, but if you are not even trying then I have no choice but to give you to Dra'coe now. I am no fool, I realize that in all likelihood you will have to mate several times before you become pregnant." Claudio looked directly at Sam and continued "but if O'Neill is unwilling or unable to get you pregnant, Dra'coe will."
"I would rather die than..." Sam began but Claudio put up his hand to silence her.
"You and O'Neill have 3 hours to mate. When you are brought back here I will use the medical scanner again and if you have not consummated your marriage, you will be given to Dra'coe at that time." Claudio turned on his heel and walked away.
"I told you I'm not used to waiting." Dra'coe said and then indicated to one of his guards that he should take Sam and Jack to their quarters.
When they arrived at their quarters the guard said "You may close your privacy curtain, but I will remain out here until your 3 hours are up."
"Did I mention how much I hate this place?" Sam yelled at Jack as he closed the privacy curtain.
"I have a question." Jack tried to change the subject "how is it that Claudio could detect that you haven't had sex in..."
"Awhile." Sam supplied through clenched teeth.
"But it didn't register the birth control?"
"Birth control works on hormones that are already present in the body. Unless he was specifically looking for hormone levels he wouldn't notice. Which also means that Claudio is no doctor and that device is probably capable of a whole lot more than Claudio realizes."
"Ah." Jack said, unsure how that information would help them.
Jack stood awkwardly in the middle of the room as Sam paced around like a caged animal. Finally she picked up one of the empty wooden buckets and slammed it against the wall repeatedly until it splintered and broke into several pieces.
"Feel better?" Jack asked.
"NO! Damn it! How am I suppose just let them end my career! Without my career my life is meaningless! I've never felt so useless in my life!" She yelled at him. She felt tears of anger welling up in her eyes but she would not release them.
"Sam, this isn't about your career at all! It's about your life!" anger was evident in his voice.
"Oh, yeah, like we can just go back to the SGC and say, `Oh, by the way General Hammond, Jack and I became lovers on P3X-071."
"Sam, its not like that and you know it! General Hammond would authorize whatever it takes to keep you alive!"
"But how are we suppose to go back to being CO and 2IC after this?"
"I don't know!" he yelled at her. "But talk about performance anxiety, if I can't...get it up you're dead anyway! How would you like to have that pressure on you?"
She stood and looked at him, her mouth hanging open. "I never thought of that." she said.
"Yeah, well think about it now!"
Suddenly they heard muffled voices in the hall. Sam and Jack looked at each other as if to say `what the hell is going on out there?' They did not have to wait long for Brenita to appear, peeking through the privacy curtain.
"May I come in?" she said as she entered the compartment, not waiting for a reply. "I heard the shouting and surmised what was happening here. You haven't consummated your marriage yet have you?"
"Well, um its not that simple, Brenita."
"Oh, I know how hard it can be to be romantic here in the complex , what with so little privacy and all. I gave the guard a chair and asked him to move away from your door." She stated in a matter of fact manner.
Then Brenita began pulling items out of her wicker basket. "Here are some candles, and this wine I made myself. I thought it might help you feel more at home."
Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and buried his head in his hands.
"Thank you, Brenita." Sam said mechanically.
"Oh, it's nothing." Brenita said as she busied herself lighting candles. Then she poured the wine into two of the ceramic mugs. "Just drink this and you'll feel better." She smiled knowingly at Sam, but refused to leave until she had seen both of them drink. She went over to the wall and put out the torches that were above Teal'c and Daniel's beds. "It is always so much more romantic with the candle light." she said.
"Well, I'll be on my way now."and Brenita slipped out of the room.
As soon as Brenita disappeared Jack said sarcastically "What is she, our guardian angel or something?"
"She has an ulterior motive." Sam said as she took a sip of the wine.
"What's that?"
"Khatana." Sam replied, her voice flat.
"Huh?"
"I'd say the girl is about 17. On her next birthday, if she doesn't have a husband, she'll be sent to work with those women we encountered when we first arrived here. She'll sell herself everyday for a handful of tokens just to survive."
"So," Jack took a drink of his wine, "it isn't really us she's interested in, but Daniel."
"Yes, but because you and I are...ah,...married, apparently we are the most important people in our group. If Daniel gets married, we lose part of our income, so she has to convince us to let Daniel go."
Jack nodded and took another sip of the intoxicating beverage. Neither of them spoke as Sam took her mug, picked up the bottle of wine, walked over to the bed and sat down beside Jack. She poured some more of the sweet liquid into each of their cups and took another sip.
Jack turned his head to look at her. "Sam..." he said softly. She turned her head to look at him and found herself looking deep into his dark eyes. "Look, this isn't how I wanted this to happen. I always thought that someday we would kick the Goa'uld's asses and you and I could...finally be together. But not like this, ..."
his voice trailed off.
"I know, Jack." she said softly.
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "What was in that wine she gave us, my head feels...fuzzy."
"I don't know. I feel...funny. Kind of uninhibited I guess."
"Listen, Sam, I will make this up to you. Someday we'll..."
"It's ok, Sir."
"No, it's not. Do you remember the virus we got on P3X-797?"
"I try not to think about it."
"Well, when you tried to, ah...seduce me, you asked me if I wanted you. Do you remember what I said?"
Sam paused for a moment and looked away before she said "I do." She looked into his eyes, "You said `Not like this."
"Sam, I want you, more than you can possibly know, but not like this." They sat on the bed, side by side, in silence. After a time, Sam leaned her head against Jack's shoulder and he put his arm around her. Sam held her mug with both hands and looked into it, studying the liquid it held, before she drained the contents. She handed Jack the empty cup, leaned over, untied her boots and took them off.
Sam took the cups from Jack's hands and set them both on Teal'c rack while Jack took off his boots. After he had taken off his boots, Jack sat on the edge of the bed watching her, thinking how sexy she was and how badly he wanted her. Normally he tried to repress those thoughts and when the automatic repression kicked in he had to work hard at turning it off.
She stood there looking down at him for a time before taking off her BDU shirt and pulling her t-shirt over her head.
Jack's mouth went dry. She was wearing a black bra and the contrast between it and her skin was sexy. `God, she's sexy!' he thought.
Sam walked over and took both of his hands in hers and pulled him to his feet. She helped him out of his BDU shirt and then pulled his t-shirt over his head. She knew that, even though her life depended on Jack making love to her, he wouldn't do it unless she told him it was alright. She figured that actions spoke louder than words.
Jack pulled her into an embrace, the skin to skin contact more intoxicating than the wine. As Jack placed light kisses on Sam's neck she said "We are SO going to get court martialed for this."
"Shh." He whispered in her ear. He just held her, rocking her gently, holding her tightly. Sam allowed a few tears to roll down her face as Jack put his hand on the back of her head. After a time he pulled back, looked her in the eyes, put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her
It began softly but soon deepened as their tongues began to gently explore the other. All the pent up emotions from the past 7 years were poured into that one kiss. Sam clearly understood, without a word being spoken, that Jack was in love with her and she did her best to express that same feeling to him through her kiss.
Finally, they broke apart and Jack took her by the hand. "C'mere." he said as he led her toward the bed.
As they lay on the hard board that served as the bed, Jack looked into her eyes and said "What if Jonah and Thera could have made love? They were in a place like this and they were happy." He brushed a lock of hair our of her face. "Forget the circumstances Sam, and just love me." he whispered.
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Jack and Sam again stood in front of Claudio who scanned Sam with his medical device.
"This is so degrading!" Sam said out loud before she even realized it.
"Silence slave!" Claudio shouted. Then he turned to Dra'coe and said "You will have to wait a while longer before you can have her." Then to the guards he said "Take them back to their quarters."
Lo'jess and the rest of SG1 were already in the compartment when Sam and Jack arrived.
"So, where have you two been?" Daniel asked casually.
"Don't ask!" Sam snapped.
"Ok. Well, then what's for dinner?"
"Rice. Lo'jess can make it." Sam sat on the floor in the corner and buried her head in her hands.
Lo'jess silently got the bag of rice down off the shelf and poured some into the cook pot. "What happened to the water bucket?" He asked innocently when he noticed it broken into bits.
"Sam had a bad day. Just take the other bucket and go get some water." Jack ordered.
"What the hell is going on here, Jack?" Daniel wanted to know.
Sam looked up, angry tears in her eyes, "We were forced to consummate our marriage." she snapped.
"Oh, uh, well, gee I'm sorry... I guess."
An uneasy silence settled about the compartment. Lo'jess returned with the water, cooked the rice and after dinner washed the dishes. Sam refused to eat and would not move from her place on the floor.
"I will take Major Carter's watch for her." Lo'jess offered.
Sam got up from where she was sitting and said softly, "No, that's alright Lo'jess. I'm fine. You go to bed."
When everyone was settled in their racks Jack came over to talk to Sam, but before he could even sit down beside her in front of the fire she said "Sir, I'm fine. You need to sleep."
"Carter..."
"Please, Jack" she pleaded "just let me be alone for awhile."
He put his hand lightly on her shoulder. "Ok, but if you need me..."
"I'm fine." she said again.
"Don't forget to wake me for my watch." She nodded, but he knew she had no intention of waking him.
When the rest of the members of the group had fallen asleep, Teal'c got out of his bed and came to sit by Sam on the floor.
"Major Carter, are you angry with Colonel O'Neill?"
"No, Teal'c. I'm angry with the situation."
"Colonel O'Neill believes that you are angry with him. He feels very bad. If you continue to shut him out like this your relationship will deteriorate until the two of you have great animosity for each other. That would be unwise."
Sam looked at Teal'c for awhile before asking "What do you want me to do, Teal'c?" in a tone that came out more sarcastically than she intended.
"O'Neill cares very deeply for you. He is hurting too. Realize that and do not shut him out. This is not just about you. It is about both of you."
"I just feel so useless here, Teal'c."
"On the contrary, it is you who saved Daniel and I from the over anxious females we have encountered here, it is you who found the way out of this mine and it is you who will design the tools that we need to make our escape. Your labors improve our day to day lives as we work to set ourselves free. Do not underestimate your contribution to our success here."
Sam looked at Teal'c, tears threatening to fall. "But, being forced to have sex with someone, even if you love them, is..." she suddenly realized that she just told Teal'c that she was in love with Jack. Somehow, she figured this was not a news flash to him.
"Is not the first sexual encounter with a new mate usually awkward and not the experience that is hoped for? Do you believe it would not have been so with O'Neill had the two of you chosen the time and place to experience your love for the first time?"
"I,...ah,...suppose you're right Teal'c."
"Then for your sake as well as Colonel O'Neill's do not shut him out. He is a victim as well. The two of you must work through this together."
"You're right Teal'c. Thank you."
Teal'c nodded and said "Good night, Major Carter."
Sam stared at the fire and thought about the things Teal'c had said to her. She also pondered the hand held medical device Claudio used. Before she knew it, her watch was up.
"Colonel." She touched his shoulder hesitantly. "Colonel, it's time for your watch."
"Ok, Carter." Came the groggy reply.
Sam went to sit in front of the fire again while Jack put his boots on. He looked over at her and knew she was lost in thought. He went to sit beside her on the floor.
The two sat shoulder to shoulder in silence for quite some time before Sam said "Sir..."
"Carter, don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't tell me what a horrible experience this afternoon was for you."
"Some of it wasn't horrible."
"What are you saying, Carter?"
She smiled, keeping her eyes focused on the fire, "Well, for an old man with performance anxiety, you, well, made me ..." her voice trailed off. Then she turned her head to look him square in the eyes and with a grin said "Twice!"
He gave her his biggest `I love you Carter' smile.
They continued to sit in silence for a time before Sam said "I've been thinking about that medical device that Claudio had."
"I knew you were thinking about somethin'!"
She ignored his comment and continued "It's not Goa'uld technology, it's Ancient technology."
"You mean Claudio..."
She nodded and completed his sentence "has the Ancient gene."
"Look, Sir," she continued on a roll now, "that medical device does whatever Claudio's mind tells it to do. He obviously has had no medical training or he would have picked up on the naquada in my blood as well as the birth control. That device was only looking for what Claudio told it to look for. So what was he looking for when he scanned me?"
Jack's eyes got wide with the realization "He was looking for sperm; semen!"
"Exactly. The first time he scanned me he didn't know we hadn't...made love, he was just guessing. We told him what he wanted to know!"
"That son of a..."
"But, Sir, I think we can use his arrogance and his lack of knowledge against him. Arrogance and stupidity are a deadly combination."
"Ok, what do you have in mind?"
"Well, he knows we aren't from this planet, what if we tell him that our physiology is different from the people on this planet, that when a woman from our planet gets pregnant a protein marker appears in her blood. Even if he doesn't believe it, his mind will be thinking `protein marker' and the device should make it show up!
"Sam, you're brilliant! That's why I married you."
She chuckled. "I thought their marriage laws weren't binding."
"Yeah, well, it certainly wasn't the most romantic wedding I've ever attended."
"The honeymoon left something to be desired too." Sam said with a smile
"Hey! Under the circumstances I thought I did quite well."
"Oh, the male ego!" She said as she rolled her eyes.
"So, how long do we have to wait until you tell Claudio you think you're pregnant and want to be scanned for the protein marker?
"I don't know. He may buy the protein marker for awhile, but eventually he will want to scan me again. He may be stupid but he's not that stupid. I think we can fool him once but not twice. I would say we have to wait at least one of their lunar cycles."
Jack nodded as she continued, "If this works, once they believe I'm pregnant they will have to leave me alone. It would mean a lot to the Protectorate to get his hands on our child, so I'm willing to bet there's something in it for Claudio too."
"A promotion, a bonus, something like that?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, I think so." After a moment she continued, "You know, Sir, if we get this to work we can wait until the cargo ship gets here to attempt our escape. We won't have the risk of hiding out in the woods for 11 days. It improves our odds."
"Well, that's a good thing."
They sat in companionable silence for time before Jack said "Sam, you should get some sleep."
She nodded and pulled herself up off the floor. Before she walked away she said "Thank you, Sir."
He looked up at her quizzically, "For what, Carter?"
"For saving my life."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The next day, as she worked in the laundry, the thought that kept running through Major Carter's mind was `In 71 days the Goa'uld arrive in a cargo ship. It's our best hope of getting out of here!'.
At the midday break Sam made a bold move. She went to ask Ledra, her boss in the laundry, if she could bring her `amator' to the laundry during the lunch break. She explained that Dra'coe wanted her and, although she hated to admit it, she was afraid to shower in the laundry without Jack there to watch her six, figuratively not literally, and she did not want to go to the public baths.
Ledra studied Sam for a moment. "You have proven to be an exceptional worker. You do not complain, you do not ask for breaks and the quality of your work is very good. However, bringing one's amator to shower in the laundry is not usually permitted."
"Yes, ma'am." Sam was clearly disappointed as she started to walk away.
"Wait." The stout woman said. "It is not usually permitted, but you are a good worker and" she looked cautiously about to make sure they were alone "I too, despise Dra'coe. As long as you do not get caught I will permit it. If you do get caught, then you must know that I will tell them that you did not have my permission."
"Thank you!" Sam said with a big smile and she hurried off to her compartment.
Because of the events of the previous day, there was nothing in the compartment for Sam to fix for lunch except for rice. She poured some in the pot, added water and stirred it with the stick. About 20 minutes later SG1 and Lo'jess returned for their midday meal.
After everyone had eaten their skimpy meal of rice, Sam took the one towel they owned and the lemon soap and said to Jack "Sir, would you come with me?"
"Uh, where are we going Carter?"
"I need to show you something in the laundry."
As they walked to the laundry Sam explained that the laundry vats were drained everyday before the midday break, and that they had permission from Sam's boss to shower in the laundry room.
"A real shower?" Jack asked incredulously.
"Well, no, not exactly. They have an aqueduct system similar to the Ancient Romans and although it is a gravity feed system and the water is..."
"Ack! Carter, I don't care how it works I just want to take a shower!"
Jack sat on the floor with his back toward Carter, keeping an eye out for Dra'coe as she took her lukewarm shower. She dried off quickly, dressed and then announced "Your turn, Sir."
"You know, Carter, before we get out of here you and I are actually going to shower together!"
"But we have to keep watch for Dra'coe." Sam offered.
"Yeah, yeah..."
The water that came out of the aqueduct piping reminded Jack of the scene from "Singing in the Rain" where Gene Kelly stood under a gutter and rain water poured out on him. Jack didn't care. It felt great! And that lemon soap Carter had found at the concession area wasn't bad either.
Sam stood by the doorway, keeping guard while Jack showered. She was getting worried because he was taking so long. Finally she stuck her head back in the laundry and hissed "Colonel, hurry up!"
Jack reached up and pushed the lever that closed the gate valve, causing the water to shut off. He dried himself with the same damp towel Carter had used and then got dressed again in his BDUs.
"That was great, Carter!" he said as he came out of the laundry, running his fingers through his wet hair. "But when are you going to wash our uniforms? Not that I don't appreciate having clean underwear everyday, but these BDU's are getting pretty rank."
"I'll wash them when I have enough tokens to buy everyone another set of clothes."
"Ah." He paused briefly, "And speaking of shopping..."
"Yeah, I know! Rice is getting a little old, I have to replace the bucket I smashed yesterday, and I still have to figure out what we can use as tools to get out of here."
"Ok, just checkin'"
When SG1 returned from work that evening they handed Sam the 28 tokens they had earned that day, along with the 20 tokens from the day before. Sam then went across the passageway to get Brenita and the two women headed to the concession area.
At the food vendor's stand Sam purchased the usual stew ingredients, another 5 pound bag of rice, 3 loaves of bread and half a dozen apples. The total came to 11 tokens.
Next she had Brenita take her to the garment booth. "I need clothes for all the members of my team." She told the woman.
Brenita showed her earthtone, baggy pants with drawstrings at the waist.
"How much per pair?" Sam asked her.
"5 tokens." Brenita replied.
"I don't suppose you get an employee discount or anything, do you?" Sam asked.
Brenita looked at Sam for a moment, then turned to the woman behind the counter. "Give her 5 pair of the trousers for 23 tokens." She said.
Brenita then picked out sizes for each member of the team including Sam. Sam thanked her and handed over 23 tokens.
The next stop was the Cooper, to see about a replacement bucket.
"Six tokens seems like an awful lot for a bucket!" Sam exclaimed to the man.
"Well, it is fine craftsmanship and a great deal of work!" The Cooper said.
"Do you have a used bucket, or a sample bucket that's cheaper?" Sam asked.
The man rolled his eyes, dug around under his table and produced a well worn bucket. He plopped it down on the table. "2 tokens." He said.
"I'll take it." As she paid the man Sam thought about the fact that her angry outburst yesterday had cost her an entire day's wages.
With just 12 tokens remaining Sam purchased another towel for 4 tokens and was on her way home with 8 tokens still in her pocket when she noticed a vendor selling various writing implements and blank books of parchment that were held together with ribbons. Sam purchased 2 of the parchment books and 2 pencils for 4 tokens. On her way back to the compartment, with 4 tokens left in her pocket, she decided she would try to save 4 tokens each day so that she could purchase items to construct tools.
When she got back to the compartment she gave Daniel the notebooks and pencils and told him she thought he would like to take some notes about the society in the mines and keep a journal.
Daniel looked at Sam, speechless for a moment. He knew she barely had enough tokens to put food on the table. "Thank you, Sam." He said as he gave her a big hug.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
SG1 began to fall into a routine living in the caves. Sam went to work early everyday so that she could do the team's laundry before the other workers arrived. She was also figuring out other things she could make for meals and had added soup, something that passed for fried rice and oatmeal with honey to her repertoire.
After 14 days in the mines, Sam had managed by buy everyone their own soap, towel, and razor and had a total of 58 tokens saved up.
As SG1 was eating their evening meal of bread and soup, Daniel began complaining about mining naquada. "Even in its raw state the stuff is so hard that I can hardly break enough of it off each day to make my asinine quota!"
"Daniel! That's it! I've been so stupid!" Sam exclaimed.
"What?" He said as everyone looked at her expectantly.
"Naquada is one of the hardest elements we know! The cave wall we're going to try to break out of is a metamorphisized granite called gniess. It's basically a slurry of various types of rock, ore, granite and so forth that were melted together under extreme pressure..."
"ACK! Carter! What's so important about this `nice' rock?"
She smiled her patient smile that she saved for Jack when he didn't want details.
"Sir, naquada is much harder than the gniess that the wall of the cave is made of. Now I know the punishment for stealing is severe, but to get out of here we need shards of naquada that we can use to make hatchet and chisel type tools with. We can use the longer side pieces from the bucket I smashed a couple weeks ago, as the handles."
"I don't know, Sam, trying to get some naquada shards out of the mine is dangerous." Daniel warned.
Sam thought for awhile. "Have you noticed that the fire chondrite and naquada have a similar appearance?"
"Yeah,...so?"
"What if you said you wanted to increase your production and so you were not going to come home for lunch but were just going to heat your lunch at the work site with some fire chondrite you brought from home. You show the fire rocks to your boss when you first arrive so you aren't accused of stealing them. At lunch time you light the rocks, heat your soup, put out the fire and gather up the rocks. At some point you switch them for naquada leaving the chondrite in its place."
"It is very risky." Teal'c stated. "I will do it."
"Are you sure, T?"
"I am O'Neill."
Sam opened the bag of fire chondrite and searched through the rocks looking for ones the size and shape she would need for tools and then handed them to Teal'c.
"Try to find pieces similar in size and shape to these." She said.
Teal'c nodded and put them in the cargo pockets of his BDU pants that he would wear the next day.
"To make this believable you'll have to take the cook pot and the tripod so you can heat up your soup." Sam said.
"And if your cover story is that you want to increase your quota then you are actually going to have to do it." Daniel added.
"I understand, Daniel Jackson. I will be successful."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The next day Teal'c successfully smuggled half a dozen shards of naquada out of the mine. Since Sam could easily tell the difference between the naquada and the fire chondrite they hid the naquada in the bag of fire stones.
Sam went to the concession area alone that evening and went right to the booth where Brenita was working. She told the woman that Daniel's bootlaces had broken and asked where she could get something to replace them. Brenita directed her to the leather smith who sold Sam several pairs of long leather laces.
Sam intended to use the leather laces to attach the naquada shards to the wooden handles much as the Native Americans did to make hatchets. Next she went to the cutlery vendor and purchased a sturdy handled knife that did not have a serrated blade. One that she could use to fashion handles for her tools out of the slats that had been the sides of the wooden bucket she smashed.
Since she wasn't going to have to buy tools with the 58 tokens she had saved up, Sam purchased a small, three legged wooden stool so the person on watch would not have to sit on the cold, hard floor.
She was also able to purchase small feather pillows for each member of the team. It took every token she had to buy these luxuries but she was actually feeling quite happy and believed her naquada tools would get them out of the caves.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Five days later, Sam and Jack were returning to their compartment after their daily showers in the laundry when Jack was suddenly hit by the blast from a modified staff weapon. He crumpled to the floor in pain.
"Jack!" Sam yelled and instinctively bent down to help him. She heard a low, wicked chuckle and looked up to see Dra'coe step out from behind another passageway. He had the weapon pointed at her.
"Yellow Hair, I want that sample from you now." he said in a sinister voice.
"Go to hell!" She said as she pulled herself up to her full height.
"I want to make sure your amator gets to watch this!" he said with an evil grin.
He leaned his staff weapon against the wall, well out of Sam's reach, and with one swift motion grabbed her by the shoulders. He slammed her back powerfully against the wall, nearly knocking the wind out of her with the force. Then he looked over his shoulder to make sure Jack could see everything that he was going to do to Sam. Jack was on his knees in pain and still unable to move or speak.
Dra'coe thrust his hips up against Sam's body and began kissing her. She pinched her lips together tightly and tried to turn her head to the side but that did not deter him. She closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the sight of him. "Get off me!" She yelled.
His hands began roaming her body. He violently pulled her t-shirt out from the waistband of her BDUs. Sam thought she was going to throw up just from his stench. He slid his hands under her shirt. She tried to wrestle away from him but he had her firmly pinned to the wall with his body. When she tried to free her arms to strike him, Dra'coe grabbed her hands and pinned them to the wall, her arms over her head.
Jack, still unable to move, found his voice. "NO!" he croaked.
In one deft movement Dra'coe grabbed his staff weapon, walked over and kicked Jack in the stomach. Sam lunged at him and managed to plant a firm blow in his solar plexus before he shot her with the staff weapon and then for good measure shot Jack again.
Dra'coe stood patiently waiting until both SG1 officers were sufficiently recovered as to know what was going on, but still unable to prevent it. Jack, crouched in pain on his knees, watched in silent horror as Dra'coe advanced on Sam. She too, was on her knees, unable to move or speak. Dra'coe ran a finger down the side of her face, down her collar bone, and across her breasts.
Dra'coe then kneeled in front of Sam who was still paralyzed from the staff blast. He looked over his shoulder at Jack and said "How does it feel to know another man is going to have his way with your woman while you can do nothing but watch?"
"Leave her alone, you bastard!" Jack managed to utter in an angry, hoarse whisper.
Dra'coe smiled. Still on his knees in front of Sam, he began to unbutton his pants. Suddenly, Ledra, Sam's boss from the laundry, swung at his head with one of the wooden oars used to stir the dirty clothes. Using the oar like a baseball bat she connected with his head as if it were a pinata. Dra'coe fell to the floor and was out cold.
Ledra reached down and helped Sam up and then instructed her "use your towel to tie his hands behind his back."
Sam looked at her, awestruck, and then did as she was told. While Sam was tying Dra'coe's hands, Ledra went to help Jack. Once he was able to stand again she said "We must take Dra'coe to the prostitutes. They will take care of him."
"Ledra, why did you help us? You'll get in a lot of trouble..."
Ledra put her hand up to stop Sam from saying more. "Several years ago Dra'coe wanted me the same way he wants you now. He killed my amator so that I would have to go live with and work with the prostitutes. Dra'coe did horrible, unspeakable things to me, and I know he would do the same to you."
Sam and Jack exchanged glances and Jack moved closer to Sam in a subconsciously protective fashion.
Ledra pulled up the bottom of her long blue skirt and showed them scars on her ankles where she had obviously been shackled. "I do not want you to know what else he did to me."
"How did you escape from him?" Sam asked.
"Eventually he tired of me and I was able to get a job in the laundry. Now I am merely paying him back for all the evil he did to me. I still have friends among the prostitutes and they have friends among the guards. Dra'coe is despised by many people. The prostitutes will have no trouble finding guards who will ...make him disappear forever. Now hurry, we must make sure no one sees us take him to the prostitutes."
Sam, Jack and Ledra dragged the unconscious Dra'coe to the compartments where the prostitutes lived and worked. Ledra found the friend she was looking for and told Sam and Jack to get back to work, she would talk to her friend in private and everything would be taken care of.
Without any words being spoken between them, Sam and Jack quickly headed back to work, still feeling the effects of Dra'coe's attack on them.
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That night at the evening meal, Sam and Jack said nothing about the encounter they had with Dra'coe earlier that day. They thought it was safer for the rest of the team not to have the knowledge that they had helped make him disappear.
Instead Sam announced that her naquada tools were ready to be put to use. After the dishes had been washed Sam went behind the screen in the toilet area and retrieved the tools she had constructed.
"I thought the safest place to keep these would be in the toilet area. They won't be readily visible and I doubt that the guards would ever search there." She showed them the six tools with wooden handles that could be used as hammers and chisels.
"The biggest problem we have now," she continued "is making sure no one sees us or hears the chipping and chiseling of the cave wall."
"I've come up with a work schedule." Jack said. "We will work in teams of two, one keeping watch while the other works and you can switch off as you become tired. We'll start working every night one hour after lights out and quit one hour before reveille. That will give us 6 hours each night."
"We have just 56 days until the Goa'uld arrive to collect the naquada." Daniel stated as if they all needed reminding.
"I bought 2 new blankets today when I went shopping so we can use two of the old blankets to muffle the sound as we work. When I get more tokens I'll buy more blankets." Sam said.
It was decided that Sam and Teal'c would take the first 3 hour shift working on the cave wall each night and Daniel and Jack would take the 2nd shift. Lo'jess would rotate so that every 5th day one of them would get a full night's sleep.
Before Sam and Teal'c left the compartment, Jack pulled Sam aside "Are you ok?" He asked referring to the attack by Dra'coe earlier that day.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Good actually. I know we don't have to worry about Dra'coe anymore."
Jack studied her for a moment then pulled her into a hug. He knew they had survived a very close call that afternoon and he was relieved to have her there with him, intact.
At 10:30 that night Sam and Teal'c headed out of the compartment with 2 buckets filled with tools, 2 of the old blankets and one torch. When they arrived at their work sight, Sam showed Teal'c the weakest areas of the rock and where he needed to begin working.
The work space was very small and Teal'c and Sam barely fit into it at the same time. When Teal'c was ready to begin work Sam went down to the fresh water spring to keep watch. After an hour and a half she went back up the narrow cavern and took Teal'c's place while he went down to keep watch at the springs.
When Teal'c and Sam's 3 hour shift was up, they silently slipped back to their compartment and sent Jack and Daniel out to continue the work.
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Over the next several days the work on the cave wall progressed very slowly.
On SG1's 32nd day in the mines Brenita and her entire family came to their compartment immediately after working hours.
Khatana announced "It has been a full lunar cycle since you arrived in the mines. Daniel Jackson will you be my amator now?"
The rest of Khatana's family looked anxiously at Daniel as he fidgeted under their scrutiny.
"There is a celebration every third lunar cycle after the Goa'uld have picked up their shipment of naquada. The clotheslines are taken down and there is a big party in the outdoor laundry area." Brenita began. "We were hoping you would use that happy time when there is music, food and drink, to claim Khatana." Brenita said to Daniel.
Jack walked over to Daniel, put his arm around his shoulder and said "How `bout it, Danny? It sounds like a good plan to me."
Daniel looked reluctant, but he understood, as Jack did, that a big party that coincided with the Goa'uld's arrival could be used as diversionary tactic to help SG1 make their escape.
Daniel swallowed hard, looked up at Khatana and said "Uhm, sure, I will claim you at the outdoor party when the Goa'uld come to collect the naquada."
"Wonderful!" Said Brenita. "Get out your mugs and we will celebrate with some of my wine!"
Jack and Sam exchanged glances remembering how uninhibited the wine made them feel when they drank it a few weeks before.
When everyone's cup was full, one of Khatana's brother's held up his mug and said "To Khatana and Daniel." and everyone drank.
"With only 43 days until the collection and, more importantly, Khatana and Daniel's claiming party, I will have to get to work making a new dress for Khatana." Brenita said happily.
Sam looked down at her boots. The woman was so happy and had no idea that SG1 would use the diversion of the party to make their escape. Khatana would be shamed because her amator left her and she would be sent to live with the prostitutes. Sam felt responsible for the girl's fate.
Jack noticed Sam's sudden change of mood and knew what she was thinking. He thought to himself `Major, we have to get ourselves out of here. That's our number one priority and you know it.'. He said nothing.
Brenita and her family finally went home, but not before the group had consumed 3 bottles of her wine. Jack announced that since they were all feeling a little tipsy from the wine that they would take the night off from working on their escape.
Sam took first watch by the fire, as usual, and the rest of SG1 and Lo'jess gratefully went to bed and fell asleep quickly. As soon as everyone was asleep Jack slipped out of his bed and went to sit with Sam by the fire. Since beginning work on their escape, Sam and Jack hadn't had any time together except for the few minutes it took them to walk to the laundry each day so they could take turns showering during the midday break.
They sat together by the fire in companionable silence, still feeling the effects of the wine Brenita had given them. Jack looked at his beautiful 2IC, the firelight dancing on her face. They were making progress on the hole in the side of the cave, Dra'coe was gone, and here in the mines, Sam belonged to him. He wanted to hold her, touch, make love to her without the threat of death. He realized the wine had gone to his head again and quickly looked back at the fire.
Sam leaned her head on his shoulder. It was the first real physical contact they had had since they began working on their escape. Because of the work schedules, they were no longer sleeping at the same times so they didn't even have the minimal contact that came from sleeping, fully clothed, in the same bed. Jack put his arm around her and lightly kissed the top of her head.
Finally Sam spoke "Let's wait 10 more days and then tell Claudio that I think I'm pregnant."
"With Dra'coe gone..." Jack began
"I know, but Claudio will still send me to live with the prostitutes if you haven't gotten me pregnant in 32 more days."
Jack nodded his head and Sam put hers back on his shoulder. They sat that way through both of their watches. After their watches were over, Jack woke Daniel to take his turn and then gratefully spooned up against Sam in the bed.
The daily routine returned for SG1. Progress was slowly being made on their escape route. A hole big enough for Teal'c to stick his head through now existed in the side of the cave. They could reach out through the hole and touch the soil on the other side. It gave them hope.
It had been 10 days since Sam and Jack had their quite moment in front of the fire. As they walked to the laundry for their midday showers Sam said to Jack "Tell your boss today that you think your amator is pregnant and that we both want to see Claudio."
Jack nodded "I hope this works." he said.
Later that afternoon a guard came to get Sam from the laundry and escorted her to the great hall where Claudio was waiting. Again Jack was there ahead of her. She hoped that he had mentioned the protein marker to Claudio.
Sam and Jack stood together in front of the Supreme Ruler of the mining complex. Claudio looked down at them and said to Sam "You believe you are pregnant?"
"Yes." she began "The physiology of women on the planet I come from is slightly different from the women on your world. When a women from my planet has been pregnant for just a few days a protein marker appears in her blood. I believe that your medical device should be able to find the protein marker if I am pregnant."
Claudio stared at her. "I have never heard of such a thing!"
Sam and Jack could clearly tell that he did not believe her.
"How many women from Earth have you known?" Jack asked.
"None!" Claudio responded.
"Well, then all you have to do is scan her looking for the protein marker to know if we are telling the truth, for cryin' out loud!" Jack said, sounding exasperated.
Claudio stepped down off the platform and walked over to stand in front of Sam. The medical device whirred as he moved it up and down and side to side in front of Major Carter. He stopped the machine and looked up wide eyed at Sam. "You have a protein marker in your blood! The Protectorate will be most pleased when I inform him that you are pregnant!"
"Yes!" Jack said. He was rejoicing that Claudio had bought their ruse, but Claudio believed he was truly happy that his amator was pregnant.
Sam smiled at Jack, as relief flooded through her at the realization that Claudio believed she was pregnant.
"I will be handsomely rewarded by the Protectorate!" Claudio said. Then he turned to one of his guards and said "Give them the rest of the day off and take them to their quarters!" He spun on his heel and disappeared.
The guard took Sam and Jack back to their quarters and said "You may put your privacy curtain down until the work shift is over." Then he walked away.
Jack did not hesitate, but went right to work rolling down the privacy curtain.
"Uh, Sir, what did you have in mind?" Sam asked.
"Sleeping, Carter. Working on our escape route from 0130 to 0430 every morning is getting to be very tiring."
Four hours later Sam and Jack were still sound asleep when Lo'jess and the rest of SG1 returned from their day's labor.
Lo'jess quickly rolled up the privacy curtain while Daniel shook Jack's shoulder. "Jack! What's going on here? Jack, wake up!"
"Huh? Oh, Danny Boy."
"Um Jack?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll explain in a minute." He turned toward Sam and gently shook her shoulder
"Carter! Wake up!"
"What is it, Sir?"
"Everyone's home and we got some `splaining to do!"
"Oh."
During their evening meal Jack explained to the team how they were able to fool Claudio into believing that the Major was pregnant.
"You all have to treat Sam like she's pregnant." Jack began.
Sam snorted and rolled her eyes.
"And you have to act like you're pregnant!" he said to her.
"Everyone has to believe she is expecting or...well, we all know what the "or" is."
"Well, Sam, you should probably go over and visit Brenita and tell her that you just found out you're pregnant." Daniel said. "You know how women are, they get all excited and have to tell their best friend..."
Daniel would have said more but the look Sam was giving him, well, he was just thankful she didn't have a Goa'uld ribbon device or he would have been flying across the room like Seth.
"Daniel Jackson is correct. Major Carter you must inform Brenita that you are with child." Teal'c stated.
"Have I mentioned how much I hate this place!" Sam said.
"Well, you know," Daniel began "if any of us get caught outside the compartment in the early morning hours we can now blame it on Sam! She needed water, she couldn't sleep, she was uncomfortable, she was throwing up..."
"Thanks Daniel." Sam's voice dripped sarcasm.
Suddenly Brenita appeared at the door to the compartment. "I just heard the wonderful news" she said.
"What?"
"About Sam being pregnant!"
"How did you find out so fast?"
"Good news travels quickly here!"
Jack recovered quickly and realized he needed to take his own advice. He walked over to Sam, put his arm around her, kissed her on the cheek and said "We are very happy, aren't we honey?"
Sam grimaced but smiled at Brenita and said "Yes."
"Well, I am working on Khatana's dress for the claiming party so I must go. Congratulations again!"
Brenita left the compartment as quickly as she had arrived.
Sam silently prayed to any gods that were listening to get her out of there soon.
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Five days before the Goa'uld were to arrive, SG1 finally had a hole in the side of the cave big enough that Teal'c could fit through. They began night time reconnaissance missions to get the lay of the land, count the number of Jaffa guarding the mine and determine the location of the ring transport device.
The mine workers had begun bringing naquada out of the mines and putting it in large wheeled bins in the great hall. Knowing that the naquada would go out of the mines through the great hall and the main entrance to the caves helped SG1 plan their strategy.
The team also discovered that half a dozen Jaffa guarded the mine during the day, but at night, when the slaves were sleeping, only four Jaffa guarded the mine entrance. The two additional guards came on duty at 5:30 AM, the same time as reveille in the mines.
At 5:00 AM on SG1's 75th day in the mines, the entire group was looking down on the four Jaffa guarding the mine entrance. Teal'c carefully moved away from the group and concealed himself in the underbrush of the wooded area. Once he was situated, Jack threw stones close to Teal'c's position to get the attention of the guards. When one of the guards came to investigate the noise, Teal'c crept up behind him and put his powerful arm around the man's throat. When the Jaffa guard was no longer breathing Teal'c let him drop to the ground and took his uniform. The Jaffa guard carried a Zat'n'ktel as well as a modified staff weapon.
Once Teal'c was dressed in the Jaffa uniform he called out "Jaffa! Kree!" As the other 3 guards ran toward Teal'c he shot each one with the Zat. When they were down he shot each of them 1 more time, killing them. Jack, Daniel and Lo'jess then took their uniforms and weapons. Once SG1 was completely outfitted as Jaffa, Teal'c shot the dead Jaffa a final time with the Zat, disintegrating their bodies.
Lo'jess was given a modified staff weapon only and the Zat his Jaffa had carried was given to Sam. Daniel, Jack, Teal'c and Lo'jess took up posts guarding the entrance to the mine while Major Carter continued to hide in the woods where she had a broad vantage point and could watch her team's six.
At 5:30, when the rest of the Jaffa came on duty, they were promptly disposed of with the Zats and their weapons and uniforms taken. SG1 then hurried back to their secret entrance to the cave, removed the Jaffa uniforms and hid them in the cavernous passageway that led from the mine opening they had created, back down to the underground springs. They hid the staff weapons there as well, but took the Zats with them, hiding them in their baggy, earth tone pants. They hoped they would blend in better with the rest of the slaves if they at least wore the same pants as everyone else.
They hurried to their work stations so they would not be late and the guards would not search for them.
Shortly after 6:00 AM the mine workers began pushing the heavy wheeled bins full of naquada outside the complex as the mine guards lowered the force field and kept their weapons trained on the workers. There was so much activity no one noticed the few missing Jaffa.
The workers in the laundry took down all the clotheslines in the outdoor area and began setting up tables and chairs for the party that would commence as soon as all of the naquada was outside of the mine in the staging area by the rings.
Since the force field to the outdoor laundry area was always on, it was, from the guard's standpoint, a perfect place to allow the workers to party. They could be outdoors, but there was no where for them to go and the only way out for the workers was through the laundry. That meant that the guards could sit and relax in the laundry area, watch the festivities, eat and drink, while still blocking the slaves only exit.
Sam learned from Brenita that it usually took about four hours to get all of the naquada to the staging area outside of the mine. As soon as that was accomplished, the workers were allowed to party until lights out, which meant almost 12 hours of partying. Brenita said that wine and ale flowed freely at the party and that many of the guards joined in the revelry.
As the first partiers began to arrive in the laundry, Sam told her boss, Ledra, that she wasn't feeling well, that she thought it was morning sickness and asked to go to her compartment for ashort time. Ledra allowed her to go, but Sam didn't go to the compartment. Instead she headed to the great hall. It was difficult for her to make her way to the great hall as everyone was headed for the laundry and the party.
When she finally arrived it did not take her long to find the rest of her team.
SG1 headed right for the stage where Claudio stood every time he addressed the workers. They found the door he always seemed to disappear through, and with very little effort knocked it down. Inside they found Claudio reclined on a plush couch with servant girls in togas all around him, feeding him grapes and wine, massaging him, and fanning him with huge feather fans. The room was filled with huge, colorful floor pillows, candles, and sheer curtains hanging from the ceiling.
Claudio was so taken by surprise that he didn't know what hit him when he was shot with a Zat.
"Sir, we want the hand held medical device he uses."
"Right. So, Claudio, old buddy, where is the medical scanner?"
When Claudio refused to answer Jack said "Let me explain how these things work" He waved his Zat in front of Claudio's face. "One shot stuns, two shots kill and three shots disintegrate. Now, where's the scanner?"
Claudio said nothing, but indicated a cabinet on the far wall. Sam went to the cabinet and quickly found the device. She handed it to Jack and said "Since you have the ancient gene I think you should hold on to this, Sir." He put it in his shirt pocket.
"Now," Daniel said "We want to know where the control panel is that turns off the force field in the outdoor laundry area."
Again Claudio would not answer.
"Tie him up!" Ordered Jack.
Teal'c and Daniel did so with strips from their blankets that they had cut that morning.
"Carter." Jack said and she began a search for the control panel. She quickly found what she was looking for and disabled the force field by removing the master crystal.
"Alright, let's get out of here!" Jack ordered.
"Uh, Jack, we can't just leave these people. So the force field is turned off, they don't know that, they don't know Claudio has been taken out, and what about Khatana and Brenita? We owe them more!"
"Daniel!" Jack said in an aggravated tone.
"Jack, you know I'm right!"
"Fine! You and Teal'c grab Claudio and we'll drag him to the laundry. Have your Zats ready."
Jack then looked at the servant girls in the togas and told them to follow behind his team.
Teal'c turned to the girls and said "Do not scream or make any sound or I will be forced to hurt you."
The girls nodded and followed in silence.
Once the group arrived at the laundry, Jack peeked inside to see the location of the guards while the rest of the team stayed out of sight. With silent hand signals Jack told each team member the location of the guards he wanted them to target with their zats. Lo'jess kept his zat trained on the bound and gagged Claudio.
SG1 rushed into the laundry and took out a dozen guards in seconds. "Lo'jess bring Claudio in here!" Jack called as other guards heard the commotion and came to investigate.
Lo'jess kept his weapon on Claudio, while Jack warned the advancing guards that they would kill the Supreme Ruler if they came any closer. Then Jack climbed up on the edge of one of the laundry vats so everyone could see him.
"Listen, people, you're free!" He began. "The force field is gone and you can do whatever you want! You can leave!"
The slaves began to come forward to hear what Jack was saying.
"Look," he continued "Claudio has been captured, Dra'coe is dead, the force field is gone, you can create whatever kind of society you like! You guards are free too. If you are loyal to Claudio and want to stop us step forward now."
A handful of guards tried to rush SG1 and were immediately put down with zats. Another one shouted something about insolent slaves and received a laundry oar to the head courtesy of Ledra.
The woman then stepped forward to stand near Jack.
"I have lived in this complex my entire life. These strangers are giving us the chance to choose our own leaders, make up our own laws and venture into the outside world if we so choose. They have given us a great gift."
By this point Brenita and Khatana had worked their way to the front of the group. Khatana went up to Daniel and spoke "You are leaving." It was a statement not a question.
"Yes, Khatana." Daniel replied "You are a beautiful and talented young lady and you don't need me to be your amator. You need to find someone your own age and fall in love."
"Love?" She asked "You mean like what Sam and Jack have for each other?"
Daniel's mouth popped open for a second while he tried to think of a response. He looked over at Sam and Jack who were talking to Brenita, Ledra and some of the guards. "Yes, Khatana."
A few tears rolled down the girl's face and Daniel brushed them away. "You can create your own laws now. You don't have to go to the brothels just because you don't have an amator. You are skilled and talented at making ceramics, you could set up your own shop."
The girl nodded, Daniel gave her a light kiss on the cheek and then walked back to join the rest of SG1.
Jack was telling Ledra and the guards that they needed to keep the people away from the Jaffa who were sending naquada up to the cargo ship through the ring device.
"Once they're gone" Jack was saying "It will be safe for you to go anywhere, just stay away from them until they are gone."
Ledra nodded. "I will see to it." Already, Sam and Jack could see that Ledra was taking on the roll of the leader of these people. They knew she would be a good leader.
"We have to go now!" Jack said
The group headed back toward the underground spring. The members of SG1 had stashed six Jaffa uniforms in the hidden cavern that led to their escape opening. Each member of the team, including Sam, now donned a Jaffa uniform, took a staff weapon and escaped the cave.
They headed for the ring transport device and as they approached, saw several Jaffa muscling a heavy bin of naquada into the transport area. The rings came down and the bin was transported. After the rings were back up the Jaffa started again with the next bin. As SG1 approached, Teal'c called out to the handful of Jaffa who had the cargo handling duties. "Jaffa! Kree!" In Goa'uld he told them that the four serpent guards that were with him needed to ring up to the ship. The cargo handlers stood back and allowed the serpent guards into the transport area.
Seconds later SG1 was in the cargo area of the Tel Tak. Dressed as serpent guards, SG1 marched toward the Pel'tac taking out every Jaffa they saw. Once they reached the flight control area, they made quick work of the personnel there then rapidly removed the serpent helmets.
Teal'c and Sam took up positions on the flight deck. "Sir, we are in a stable orbit around the planet." Sam reported.
"Jack, don't forget about the Jaffa on the planet." Daniel reminded.
"Yeah, yeah. Teal'c can you target the Jaffa from orbit and take them out?"
"I can O'Neill."
"Do it!" He said to Teal'c. Then he turned to Carter and said "Ok, Major, take us home."
Sam did the calculations needed to fly the ship back to Earth and then reported "Sir, the bad news is that from here, even in hyperspace, we can't get back to Earth for 15 years. The good news is that there is an uninhabited planet with a stargate that we can reach in just a few hours. We can gate home from there."
"What about the naquada?"
"We can have SG3 go back through the gate and retrieve it from the ship." She replied.
Just then four Jaffa who had been on another deck, charged the Pel'tac with real staff weapons blazing. Daniel, Jack and Teal'c quickly neutralized the enemy, hitting each with a Zat'n'ktel 3 times.
"Daniel, take Lo'jess and search every inch of this ship and make sure there are no more Jaffa on ..."
Just then Sam fell out of her seat, unconscious. Daniel rushed to her, touched her side and came away with blood on his hand. He looked up at Jack, fear in his eyes. "She's been hit with a staff weapon!" He said.
Jack rushed over to her and kneeled down beside her. She was barely breathing and he knew she was dying. "Oh, god, no!" He whispered.
"Jack, the ancient healing device, the one we took from Claudio! You can make it work!" Daniel pleaded with him.
"I don't know how!" He said.
"Neither did Claudio! Just hold it over the injured area and think about healing her!"
Jack fumbled in his pocket for the device. He finally found it, brought it out and looked at it. "How do I turn it on?"
"Probably with your mind!" Daniel nearly shouted.
"Ok, ok." Kneeling beside Sam, Jack closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might on turning on the device. After what seemed like an eternity, the device whirred to life. Jack began sweeping it above Sam's injury, concentrating on healing her. Within minutes she regained consciousness.
"Sir, what happened?" She asked in a groggy voice.
Jack dropped his head into his hands and let out a breath. He looked up at Daniel and said "You and Lo'jess do that sweep of the ship now." Daniel nodded and indicated to Lo'jess that he should follow him.
After Daniel and Lo'jess were gone, Jack helped Sam to her feet. "I thought you were dead, Sam." He said, his voice shaky. "I didn't know what I was doing with the healing device."
"Well, you made it work. Thank you, Sir." She said. He nodded and she took her place back at the control panel next to Teal'c.
"Don't mention it, Carter." He said half to himself.
They were on their way home and, just like Jonah and Thera when their memories returned, the relationship between Jack and Sam had instantly reverted to the strained formality of CO and 2IC.
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"Unauthorized off world activation!" Boomed through the mountain, lights flashed and klaxons blared. General Hammond rushed to the gate control room as he had done for every unauthorized off world activation since SG1 went missing 79 days ago.
"Sir, we have an incoming traveler. It's SG1!"
"Open the iris!" General Hammond commanded.
Two minutes later a rag tag looking SG1, all dressed as Jaffa, stepped through the event horizon and on to Earth. General Hammond hurried into the gate room to greet them.
"SG1 what happened?"
"Oh, the usual, we were taken prisoner, sold into slavery, forced to mine naquada, stole a cargo ship and a bunch of naquada,...oh, and Carter and I got married." Jack replied flippantly.
General Hammond stood there with his mouth hanging open, staring at his flagship team. "Who is this?" He indicated Lo'jess.
It was Daniel who answered. "This is Lo'jess. He is a native of P3X-071 and he helped us survive and escape."
Lo'jess bowed to General Hammond.
"Ok, people go get cleaned up, see Doctor Fraiser and we'll debrief in two hours. I'm sure it's going to be a long one!"
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
When all of SG1 and Lo'jess were present in the debriefing room General Hammond told the team that he had sent SG3 through the gate to find out what happened to them.
"The Protectorate and his assistant, Adjeck, told SG3 that you had never arrived. SG3 did reconnaissance sweeps and sent up several UVAs but there was no sign of you." Hammond looked around the group and continued "We ran repeated gate diagnostics, but they all indicated that the gate was functioning within normal parameters. After 3 weeks I called off the search, but I never stopped hoping that you would find your way back."
The members of SG1 explained to the General what had happened on P3X-071, but left out all the details about Sam nearly being sold to a brothel, Dra'coe, Sam and Jack's `marriage' and Daniel nearly getting married to a 17 year old girl.
General Hammond said that he would send SG3 to retrieve the naquada as soon as possible, before the Goa'uld had a chance to find their cargo ship and get the naquada back.
"Now, Lo'jess," the General began. Lo'jess looked truly frightened for the first time since Jack had met him in a cell on P3X-071.
"Sir," Lo'jess began "Please, I do not want to be a slave. I want to be free."
"General," Daniel began "I think Lo'jess would fit in very well on Gairwyn's planet. The technology on Cimmeria is quite similar to that on P3X-071, and, although there was some Goa'uld technology available on P3X-071, I still think Lo'jess could adapt and fit in to the culture on Cimmeria." Daniel was rattling on and General Hammond stopped him
"Very well, Doctor. I will have SG4 make contact with Gairwyn and see if they would accept him into their society."
Lo'jess looked back and forth between the two men "Will I be free there?" He asked.
"Yes, you will, son."
Doctor Fraiser had asked to sit in on the debrief and as soon as General Hammond dismissed the team, she said "General I need to speak to you in private."
"Ah, General, I need to speak to you in private too." Jack said.
"Me, too." Added Carter.
"Alright! Doctor, please step into my office." General Hammond looked from Jack to Sam and said "You two wait out here."
Once inside the office, with the door closed, Hammond indicated that Janet should sit down and took his seat behind the desk. "How are my people, Doctor?"
"They are exhausted, they're sleep deprived, they're undernourished, they've all lost weight, but physically they will recover."
"So, what's the problem, Doctor?"
"Well, Sir, Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill went through some traumatic experiences on that planet and I believe they both need counseling. Sam was very nearly raped there, and the Colonel was forced to watch, helpless to do anything to prevent it. I really think counseling would be for the best."
"Dammit, Doctor, what the hell happened on that planet?"
"Sir, I really don't know many details, and until they tell you what happened, I am not at liberty to say more than what I've already told you."
"Alright, send in O'Neill and let me see if I can get to the bottom of this. Oh, and Doctor, wait out there in case I need to speak to you again."
She nodded, exited the office and told Jack that it was his turn.
Jack walked into the office and took a chair across the desk from Hammond.
"Well, son, what can I do for you?"
"Sir, I want to retire."
"What!"
"I have to retire or you have to court martial me."
"Ok, start at the beginning, Jack."
"General, they wanted to sell Sam to a brothel. The only way I could prevent it was to claim that she was my wife, and according to their marriage laws, she legally was my wife,...ah,... on their planet. Anyway, I...was, ...um,...forced to make love to her or she was going to be raped by this big, creepy, stinky guy. I know Carter, Sir, she would have fought him and he would have killed her." Jack paused and looked at Hammond to see if he should continue. The General nodded and indicated that Jack should go on.
The Colonel was exasperated. "General, I made love to my 2IC!"
"Jack," Hammond said softly, "you did what you had to do keep a member of your team safe and alive. You know I would have authorized it..."
"But General, I ..."
"Colonel, after what you've been through, you need some time off and I think both you and Major Carter need to get some counseling."
"No! I don't want that on her record!"
"Alright, let me talk to Major Carter and I will make my decision after I speak to her."
Jack nodded, got up from the chair and left the General's office. Once outside he told Carter that it was her turn to talk to the General.
Sam entered General Hammond's office and stood at attention across from his desk until he told her to take a seat.
"Sir," she began, "I need to resign from the Air Force."
"Ok," General Hammond said evenly, "tell, me why."
"Well, Sir, I, um...well, I had sex with my commanding officer on P3X-071."
"And as I understand it, Major, that act saved your life."
"It's against the regulations, General! If I don't resign you have to court martial me."
"Major, those regulations cannot apply to a situation like this. If it will make you feel better I will inform the president and get him to `bend' the rules in this case."
"Thank you, Sir" came out so quietly that General Hammond almost did not hear. "but...there's more that I think you should know and even the president can't fix this."
"Please go on, Major."
"General, I ...ah, have feelings for Colonel O'Neill. Feelings that are inappropriate for a 2IC to have for her CO."
"Major, you have been through a traumatic experience. You have been forced to behave as if O'Neill was your husband, just to survive. I think it would be best for you to take some time off and to get some counseling."
"No, Sir, not Doctor McKenzie!" In the minds of SG1, having a report by Doctor McKenzie in your permanent record was tantamount to being told that you were a Section 8.
"Alright, Major, I'll talk to Doctor Fraiser and perhaps she can help you and Colonel O'Neill work through this. For now I am ordering you to take some leave and see Doctor Fraiser for counseling."
"Yes, Sir."
"Send Doctor Fraiser back in here."
Sam nodded, rose from her seat and exited the office. "General Hammond wants to see you again." She said to Janet. Sam walked dejectedly from the conference room and headed toward her lab.
"You wanted to see me again, General?"
"Yes, Doctor, have a seat." Once Janet was seated the General continued "Did you know that Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill , ah,... had sex on that planet?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Well, what can you tell me about how it effected their mental states and how it will effect their working relationship?"
"I'm no psychiatrist, General..."
"I know that, Doctor. I still want your opinion."
"Ok, well, Colonel O'Neill feels that he raped Major Carter. Instead of her being raped by the creepy, stinky guy they keep talking about, he sees himself as the rapist."
"And Major Carter?"
"Well, Sir, she doesn't see it that way at all. In fact, her biggest mental and emotional conflict is that she enjoyed it. If I know Sam, she will push the Colonel away from her at every chance because she is afraid she can't control her emotions. SG1 and the Stargate Program are so important to her that she would do whatever it takes to stay on the team and with SG1."
"Have you talked to Teal'c and Daniel about what happened on that planet and do they believe it will effect the working relationship of SG1?"
"I have, General, and from what I can gather, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter were in denial pretty much from the beginning."
"What do you mean, Doctor?"
"Sir, you're getting this second hand from me, perhaps you should talk to Daniel and Teal'c directly."
"I will, Doctor, but first I would like to know what your recommendations are."
"They need counseling, but both of them refuse to talk to Doctor McKenzie and they aren't talking to each other either."
"I know this isn't your area of expertise, but would you talk to them and help them work this through?"
"Yes, Sir." Janet replied reluctantly, feeling that she was inadequate for the task, but she knew her friends needed her.
He looked at her for just a moment then pressed a button on his desk "Sergeant, get Daniel and Teal'c in here right away." then to Janet he said "Let me talk to them and then I want to discuss this with you further."
Janet nodded and got up to leave just as Daniel and Teal'c appeared in the General's doorway.
"You wanted to see us, General?" Asked Daniel.
"Yes, come in and have a seat."
The two men took up positions across from General Hammond and waited for him to begin.
"What can you tell me about how the events that took place between Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill on P3X-071 effected the working relationship of SG1?"
Daniel and Teal'c exchanged glances, clearly understanding that the General wanted to know if the intimacy shared by the Colonel and the Major was going to have a negative impact on SG1.
"Um...well, Sir, if they hadn't told us that they were forced to ...um...have sex, we never would have known it."
"Indeed."
"So you don't believe that there will be any favoritism shown or any personal problems will arise by keeping the Colonel and the Major on SG1 with you?" The General asked.
"No! Of course not!" Was Daniel's hasty reply.
"General Hammond, they are both professionals and they will always do what is best for the team, and the Tau'ri."
"Doctor Frasier says that she believes they were in denial about what happened. Do you know what she means?"
"Indeed, I do. We had been in the mines only a few days when the incident took place. After they informed us of the event they never spoke of it again. They maintained a professional relationship and focused on our survival and escape. I do not believe it was healthy for them not to speak to each other."
"But, on the other hand, Teal'c it wasn't like we had any privacy for them to..., er, ... talk about ...things, and you know neither one of them are good about talking about their feelings."
"You are correct, Daniel Jackson."
"Alright, thank you. I believe you have told me all I need to know. Please send Colonel O'Neill in to see me."
Teal'c gave a single nod/bow and both men rose from their seats, anxious to leave the General's office.
Once Jack was again seated across the desk from the General he began. "Son, here's what I am going to do for now. I will contact the president and make him aware of the situation. He will obviously bend the fraternization rules in this case. Then I am going to temporarily assign Major Carter to SG11,...
"Sir, with all due respect, you can't do that. Carter already thinks this whole mess is her fault. If you move her to SG11 she'll see it as a punishment and she'll clam right up. She won't talk to anyone if you do that."
"It's not permanent, its just while you and Major Carter are on leave."
"I know that, Sir, but move me instead. Trust me on this one, General."
The General looked at his Second in Command for a moment and then said "Very well. However, the two of you will take leave, no tinkering around in the lab at the SGC, and the two of you will talk and work this out, without the added stress of being Commanding Officer and 2IC."
The General did not allow Jack to interrupt this time, but continued talking. "After you and Major Carter have had some time to work through all of this, if you tell me that you cannot be her Commanding Officer I will make the switch to SG11 permanent. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir." Jack got up to leave, but the General stopped him just as he got to the door.
"Talk to her, Son." He said softly.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Jack had been ordered to come and see Doctor Fraiser the next day at 1100 hours. As he arrived at the infirmary, Sam was just leaving.
"Hey, I thought you were ordered to go home and not play with the doohickeys in your lab."
"I was, but I was also ordered to see Janet at ten hundred this morning."
"Ah." He said. "So, you going to play with your doohickeys now?"
"Yeah, for awhile. It takes my mind off...stuff..."
"Right. Well, see ya later, Carter."
Jack's counseling session consisted mostly of Janet talking and Jack playing with a pen and not listening. During his "visit" with Janet, after she had reminded him that he currently wasn't Sam's CO, an idea began to form in Jack's mind. When the session was over, Jack went right to his office and got on the internet. He booked a deluxe room at the 5 star Broadmoor Hotel. Then, knowing Sam as he did, he went directly to her lab and found her staring at some contraption, lost in thought
"Hey, Carter."
"Uh, Sir,... Hi."
"Whatcha doin'?"
"I just wanted to get a look at this Ancient Medical Device we brought back from P3X-071 before it gets sent to the scientists at Area 51."
He nodded. "I thought you were suppose to be on leave."
"I thought you were too, Sir."
"Yeah..." He looked down at her workbench and found some fascinating thingamabob to play with. After having a silent argument with himself for a few moments Colonel O'Neill finally said "Look, we've both been ordered to take some leave and I..."
She cut him off "Sir, I don't want to go back to my house and sit there all alone. It's just, well... I'm fine. I want to come back to work and I just don't want to be alone."
"I don't want to be alone either, Carter, so I booked us a room at the Broadmoor Hotel."
"What? The Broadmoor! You mean that five star resort where rooms start at $400 a night!"
"Yeah."
"But, Sir I really don't think this is the right thing to do, I mean..."
"Carter, General Hammond and Doctor Fraiser are both on my case. They say we have to `talk'. Look, we just spent 79 days on a planet where we're still considered ...um, married. Now I don't know about you, but I'm not ok with this."
"No, I'm not either." she said softly.
"Look, I'm not your CO anymore, I've been reassigned to SG11,..."
"Yeah, I know, General Hammond told me..."
"However, I am still a Colonel and you're still a Major, so don't make me order you to do this."
She was staring down at the medical device in her hands and refused to look at him.
Finally, in a softer voice he said "Sam, we can't talk here so, let's talk at the Broadmoor. Go home, pack some stuff and I'll pick you up in a couple hours. Ok?"
He didn't wait for her reply. He just put down the doohickey he had been toying with and left her lab.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
At 1500 hours Jack pulled his pickup into Sam's driveway, got out and went to her door. He rang the bell and did not have to wait long for Sam to answer.
"You ready to go?" He asked.
"Yeah." She said as she picked up a small black suitcase.
Jack took the suitcase from her when they reached his truck and tossed it in the back seat with his overnight bag. Sam got in the truck and the two SG1 officers rode in uncomfortable silence for about an hour until they reached the Broadmoor Resort.
Sam and Jack walked up to the registration counter in the hotel's lobby.
"Registration for Jack O'Neill, two L's." He said to the young lady behind the counter.
She made a few key strokes on her computer and said "Deluxe room, two guests, two nights?"
"Yes." Jack replied as he handed her a credit card.
"Sir..."
"Carter." He used his warning tone.
He knew she was going to say something about him spending close to a thousand dollars for a two night stay in a hotel, but he didn't want to hear it.
After they were checked in and had their room keys in hand, the desk clerk sent a bell hop to get Sam and Jack's luggage and take them to their room. Once the bell hop had left, Sam stood in the middle of the room, just taking in the luxurious view. The large, opulent room had a king size bed covered in a colorful blue and red duvet. Sliding glass doors opened on to a private balcony with a breathtaking view of the mountains.
"Sir, ..." Sam was about to mention the cost of the room again and Jack knew it.
"Sam, you have just spent three months as a slave living in a cave for cryin' out loud! Now, I don't know about you, but I basically haven't had any living expenses for the past three months and the Air Force continued to pay me. Not only can I afford it, but I think we deserve a couple nights in a place like this."
"Yes, Sir."
Sam busied herself with unpacking and then went outside to stand on the balcony and take in the view. Jack joined her on the balcony and said "So, dinner and dancing in the Star Light Lounge or should I have room service send up a couple bowls of stew?"
She laughed at that and the tension was broken.
"I don't think I'll ever eat stew again." She said.
They stood side by side on the balcony in silence for a few moments, taking in the awe-inspiring view of the snow capped mountains. The sun was warm on their faces and they realized how much they had missed the sun and fresh air.
At length Jack said softly "Sam, I'm sorry."
She turned to look him in the eyes. "Sorry for what?" she asked gently.
He puffed his cheeks as he blew out a breath. Then he looked down at his shoes and said, so quietly she could barely hear him, "For raping you."
Sam's eyes got big as saucers. "Is that what you think happened there!"
"Well, isn't it?"
"God, no! I mean, is that all it was to you!" She was angry now. She was having uncontrollable feelings of love for her CO and it was just meaningless sex to him?
He stood there looking at her for a moment, not sure what to say.
She continued "I made love to you and you just had meaningless sex with me?"
'Oh, boy, is she pissed. This isn't the reaction I expected from her at all.' Thought Jack.
"No, it wasn't meaningless! I know you didn't want to do it, you were forced to do it. That's rape, Sam."
"Its not that I didn't want to do it, its against the regulations!" she nearly shouted.
"Damn the regulations to hell, Sam!" then in a somewhat less angry tone he said "Sam, you didn't choose to have sex with me, you were forced to. It was either Dra'coe or me, now in my book that's rape."
"I wanted to make love to you," she began, "but now I'm afraid they'll take me off SG1 because of it."
"Sam, the president has already, ah,...'pardoned' us..."
"That's not what I mean, Sir." She turned to look out at the mountains again, putting her fist to her forehead, fighting to hold in the tears. Refusing to look at him, she said "My feelings for you are stronger than ever, but if I can't leave what happened there in those caves, in the caves, General Hammond will have no choice but to take me off SG1." In a more gentle tone of voice she said. "I don't want to be on an SG team without you."
"Sam, I ...well, I live for the smiles, the innuendoes, and the little touches we can get away with, and I would rather have that than be put on separate teams. It would kill me to know you were off world and there was nothing I could do to protect you. Until the Goa'uld are no longer a threat, I'm willing to live with the promise of what the future might hold for us as long as we can be together on SG1."
She turned to look at him, hope in her eyes. "So, we're ok with this? I mean we can go back to the way things were and pretend we didn't..." She asked.
"Sam, I can't live with what I did to you on P3X-071 and I can't pretend it didn't happen. You say the only reason you didn't want to have sex with me was because of the regulations, and I say I raped you..."
She put her hand on his arm to stop him "Jack, please stop saying that."
"I'm not your CO right now, we have no regulations stopping us, so give me a chance to set things right. When we were on P3X-071 I told you I would make it up to you. If you want to make love to me here we can, it's your choice, if you don't want to that's fine too,..." He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand, not knowing what to say to make her understand how he felt.
She looked at him, unshed tears in her eyes. "Jack, I do want to make love to you, but will it be possible to go back to being CO and 2IC again?"
"If you choose to make love to me here, I won't go back and pretend it never happened."
"But, we can't tell anyone, and we can't show our feelings either."
"I know. But, we'll know the truth. It'll be something to hold on to until we can be together with no regulations. A beautiful memory, not the memory of what happened in those dirty mines."
Sam felt tears burning in her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the tears not to fall. Suddenly she felt his arms around her, holding her tight.
"So whadda ya say, Sam, make love to me?" He whispered in her ear.
"Yes, Jack." she said softly. "And, about that shower we were going to take together..."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Jack took Sam by the hand and led her into the bathroom. It was enormous, with marble sinks, a huge marble tub with a Jacuzzi and a shower, heated towels, his and hers plush bathrobes, and candles! As many candles as Teal'c used when he performed Kelnoreem.
"You get the water temperature set and I'll light these candles." Jack said.
As Sam adjusted the water temperature she noticed the miniature designer bottles of bath gel. It was lemon grass scented. How ironic, she thought as she remembered the lemon soap they used in the caves.
She watched Jack as he finished lighting the last of the candles, then she turned off the indirect lighting that had illuminated the bathroom.
Jack looked at Sam, her face beautiful in the dancing candle light. He moved toward her and captured her mouth in a passionate kiss. He began to gently unbutton her blouse, slowly undoing each button. She pulled away from the kiss to look in his face, then Sam began unbuttoning Jack's shirt as well.
They slowly and sensuously removed each other's clothes then stepped into the immense marble tub together. Jack hugged Sam's naked body to his and just let the warm water spray down on them. Using the lemon grass shower gel, they took turns washing each other's bodies, thoroughly enjoying the sight and feel of each other.
After the shower, they put on the thick, plush terrycloth bathrobes and went out into the main room. Jack called room service and ordered a bottle of champaign while Sam found the smooth jazz channel on the built in stereo.
After a couple glasses of champaign, Jack took Sam's glass from her and set it down. He began kissing her neck and soon both of the plush bathrobes were in a heap on the floor.
Jack and Sam made beautiful, passionate love on the king size bed and then drifted off in each other's arms to the soft strains of `Captain of her Heart' playing on the stereo. They dozed in each other's arms for a few hours, then awoke and made love again.
After making love for the second time that evening, Sam and Jack got dressed and went down to The Tavern, where they were seated in the glass enclosed Garden Room. A three piece combo was playing light jazz as they ordered steaks and sat in the warm, dim light of The Tavern, talking quietly and enjoying the other's company.
They returned to their room about half past midnight, got undressed and slid into the enormous bed, snuggled up together and went to sleep.
It was late by military standards when Sam awoke. The lush hotel room still dark thanks to the heavy draperies covering the sliding glass doors. The first thing Sam saw was Jack, lying on his side, head propped up in his left hand, his right hand on her flat belly and a big grin on his face as he watched her.
"Did I mention that I love you?" He asked her.
"Once or twice." She replied with a grin.
He leaned down to kiss her.
"I could SO get used to this." She said.
"Yeah, well, lets not think about what might be and just enjoy what time we've got together."
Sam and Jack made love, they took another shower together, they went hiking, watched a movie on HBO, made love again, tried 2 more of the 11 restaurants in the hotel and reluctantly ended their day well after midnight.
The next morning, when Jack woke up, Sam was gone. At first he panicked, thinking that she couldn't face him so she called a cab and went home. Then he saw the sliding glass doors open just a fraction of an inch. He got out of the bed, put on the plush bathrobe and joined her on the balcony.
"Oh, hi, Sir." She said quickly wiping a tear from her face.
"Again with the `Sirs' so soon?"
She didn't respond, just looked out at the mountains which were a deep purple color in the early morning light.
"Sam, we don't have to do this. We can go back and tell General Hammond to make the switch to SG11 permanent..."
"No, Jack. You need to be on SG1. I need you to be on SG1."
Jack nodded. After a few moments he asked her "Are you ready to go back to the SGC or do you need more time?"
"I'm ready, Sir." She said, deliberately not looking at him.
She had already showered while he slept so she went in and packed her things while Jack took a quick shower.
After his shower Jack asked her "Do you want to get some breakfast before we leave? Checkout time isn't until noon."
"No, I would just as soon get this over with."
Jack quickly packed his things and they carried their suitcases down to the lobby. He returned the room keys and the two officers walked silently to his truck.
"Do you need to stop by your house or do you want to go directly to the SGC?" He asked her.
"You better take me to my house. It wouldn't look good if we both arrived together. That way I'll have my car so you won't have to take me home after work."
The rest of the ride was silent.
Jack arrived at the Mountain about 15 minutes before Sam did. He told the SF's to give him a call in his office when she arrived. They did so and he met her as she was exiting the elevator.
"So, you want to talk to Hammond and get this over with?" He asked her as she stepped out of the elevator.
"Yes, Sir."
The Colonel and the Major, dressed in their normal green fatigues, walked to General Hammond's office. Jack knocked on the door.
"Come!"
Jack and Sam entered the office.
"Colonel, Major, how are you?"
"Ready to return to work, General." Sam said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
"General, I want to continue as the CO of SG1 and I want Major Carter as my 2IC."
"Are you sure, Colonel?"
"Yes, Sir."
"And you Major."
"Yes, Sir."
"Colonel, Major, have a seat." The General indicated the two chairs across from his desk. When everyone was seated General Hammond continued "I didn't like the options you two were given, so I worked out another option for you."
Sam and Jack exchanged glances then looked back at the General.
"You two have saved the planet what, 6 o r 7 times now and you've never asked for anything in return and you've never been given anything in return. Hell, you both should have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by now! So, I got on the phone with the president and I reminded him of all you have done for Earth and then I explained how you...ah...have feelings for each other. The bottom line people, is that you have the president's written permission to have a non professional relationship and still remain on SG1 as long as you are discreet and remain completely professional while on duty."
The Colonel and the Major were speechless. They looked at him, they looked at each other, they looked back at the General, mouths hanging open. Finally Sam spoke. "Are you sure, General?"
General Hammond said nothing, but slid a piece of paper across his desk. Sam picked it up and looked at it. A big smile lit up her face as she saw the president's signature on the bottom of the page.
"Welcome back, SG1." General Hammond smiled.
Fin.
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