Stranded Part 1
Stranded Part 1
by squacco
Summary: Stranded and alone, Sam's only way home lies with her AU counterpart.
Category: Alternate Universe, Romance
Episode Related: 306 Point of View, 405 Divide and Conquer, 510 2001, 521 Meridian, 613 Metamorphosis
Season: future Season
Pairing: Jack/Sam
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 05/05/03
Stranded (1/1)
Author: Squacco
squacco@onetel.com
Category: Alternate Universe/Romance
Summary: Stranded and alone, Sam's only way home lies with her AU counterpart. Rating: G
Warning: None
Season: six
Spoilers: Point of View, Divide and Conquer, Meridian, Metamorphosis. Archive: SJD yes, Heliopolis
Disclaimer: none of the characters belong to me. They are the property of MGM/Showtime/Gekko. This story was written purely for entertainment, not for financial gain.
Stranded
"Chevron Seven - locked"
The wormhole burst into life as the members of SG-1 started their climb up the ramp. Colonel Jack O'Neill was in the lead, as usual, ready to protect his team if need be, as they were about to set foot on a previously unexplored world. Behind Jack, the Jaffa, Teal'c and the Kelownan Jonas Quinn, stood shoulder to shoulder and stepped through the shimmering silver-blue horizon, leaving just Major Samantha Carter to follow.
Sam hesitated briefly before entering the wormhole. She felt a little 'odd' this morning, she realised, nothing that she could put her finger on precisely but it was enough to give her a slightly uneasy feeling between her shoulder blades. She shrugged and stepped through the gate.
She knew immediately that something was wrong. Over the years, almost seven now, incredibly, she'd become so used to the sensation of travelling the wormhole that she gave it no more thought than any normal person would about crossing the road. Today, however, she was aware that nothing felt quite right, as if the world was slightly out of kilter.
She positively 'shot' out of the gate, landing heavily on her shoulder, totally winded and gasping for breath. She lay still for a brief moment, a little stunned 'Gee guys' she thought to herself 'thanks for helping me up here'.
When it became obvious that her team-mates were 'not' going to come to her aid, she tried to drag herself to her knees. An excruciating pain shot from her shoulder and down her right arm as she tried to put weight on it. She screamed involuntarily and collapsed again in a sweating breathless heap. Where the hell were the rest of SG-1?
Regaining her composure a little she allowed the agonising pain from what was, she suspected, a broken collarbone, to subside to a more manageable level. She levered herself into a sitting position using just her left arm and sat back on her heels, looking about her.
Well, the most obvious thing to strike her was that this was most definitely not the planet that she'd intended to gate to. The second was that she appeared to be completely alone; there was no sign at all of the rest of her team.
She was in a large hall of some kind. The space was huge, the ceiling lofty, the distant walls a uniform grey. The stargate stood about 30 feet distant; she must have shot out like a human bullet. She was lucky, she realised, to have only a broken collarbone; if she'd hit her head or landed more awkwardly she could have been totally incapacitated.
The floor on which she sat was covered with a film of dust, as if no one had walked here in some considerable time. As she looked around she realised that there were other 'artefacts' in the hall, some large some small, arranged at irregular intervals in the central space and around the walls.
She flicked on her radio; though she somehow knew it would be a fruitless venture.
"Colonel O'Neill, this is Carter. Do you copy? Over?"
There was nothing but static.
"Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, Jonas? This is Major Carter, please answer."
Nothing.
She stifled a sigh and, using her good arm, levered herself to her feet. She struggled as best as she could, given the agony from her shoulder, to shrug herself out of her pack, letting it drop to the floor.
Slowly she pivoted round. She couldn't really make much sense of her surroundings, but no matter, there was a gate and she could see something to one side that looked like a DHD. Whatever had happened to her she wasn't sure, but she'd soon be home.
Picking up her pack in her one good hand she walked across to the DHD.
"Oh, crap" she stared in dismay at the Dial Home Device, the smashed, broken and, almost certainly, non-functioning, Dial Home Device.
Quickly she opened her pack and sorted through, tossing aside food rations, spare clothing and other, for the moment, non-essential items. At the bottom of her pack was 'Sam Carter's travelling tool kit'. She opened the modest sized box and routed through for the things she needed.
Forty minutes later she tossed aside her tools in frustration. It was no good. Even putting aside the fact that she had only one useful arm, and the left one at that, she was never going to be able to fix the DHD - it was totally wrecked. In fact it looked as though it had been deliberately vandalised - she hadn't the spare parts needed to effect a repair.
Sam sat back and took stock. She might be able to dial the gate manually, if she could find a power source to hook it up to. But, realistically, in her present condition she knew that she didn't have the strength to move the ring.
It was extremely unlikely that her friends at the SGC had the least idea of where she was; she couldn't expect a rescue from them any time soon. She carefully examined the contents of her pack, a few food bars, water and a change of underwear, her toolbox. That about summed it up. She hadn't been prepared for a mission such as this - that was for sure. She took a sip of water and took two painkillers that she 'd fortuitously found lurking at the bottom of her pack. Climbing to her feet she set off to investigate her surroundings.
Her footsteps echoed in the huge space and her tracks could plainly be seen through the film of dust on the floor. Hers were clearly the only prints, and she noticed for the first time that the air, though perfectly breathable, had a dull, flat almost metallic taste to it, as if there had been no fresh circulation for quite some time.
Sam could not see any obvious doors from where she stood, but the hall was large and the light level low. 'Almost like emergency lighting' she thought.
She crossed to the nearest objects and scrutinised them carefully. There was nothing that she immediately recognised, though some may have been of Goa'uld design. One device appeared to have an image of a Horus guard engraved in its surface.
She became quite excited when she found something that looked extraordinarily like a computer, but no matter what she did, she could find no way of powering it up. As she moved slowly down the length of the room, moving away from the stargate, she examined various artefacts she came across. It didn't take her long to reach the conclusion that she was in some form of storeroom for discarded technology. Suddenly she stopped; a familiar item had caught her eye across the room. She stared, not quite believing her eyes - it was a quantum mirror.
Jack O'Neill was pacing anxiously up and down the briefing room. He'd returned to the SGC, along with Teal'c and Jonas, immediately they'd realised that Major Carter wasn't with them.
Now they were all awaiting the results of a diagnostic being run on the gate to try and determine what had gone wrong, and if at all possible, how to rectify it. A knock on the door heralded the arrival of Sergeant Davis.
"Well?" O'Neill demanded rather peremptorily. Davis forgave him, he knew the Colonel was apt to be curt when he was anxious about one of his team, and when that 'one' happened to be Major Carter - well, Davis quite understood.
"Sorry Sir" he shook his head, hating to be the bearer of bad tidings "I'm afraid it's not good news. We detected an EM surge that occurred just as Major Carter entered the wormhole. We believe that it may have caused the point of exit to jump. Unfortunately there's no way of knowing where it may have jumped to."
"But she's likely to be alive?" Jack asked.
"Yes Sir, I'd say that there's a very good chance"
"Then all we have to do is to wait for her to dial home" Jack smiled at last.
"Er Jack" Jonas pointed out "I hate to put a damper on things, but we've been back almost two hours now, if Sam could simply dial up and come home then surely she'd be here by now."
"Major Carter may have been prevented from returning through the stargate," Teal'c added "she may have been captured by hostile forces, or be severely injured."
"Gee, thanks guys" Jack scowled at his team-mates. "Sergeant, isn't there 'anything' at all that might give us a clue as to where she might be?"
Davis shook his head "I'm really sorry Sir, but I don't think so - Major Carter's on her own on this one"
Jack nodded to Davis, who went back to the control room.
"Well gentlemen" General Hammond joined them "any news?"
"No sir, I'm afraid not" Jack went over to the observation window and stared out at the gate.
"Where are you Carter?" he whispered, "Where are you?"
Sam was right - it 'was' a quantum mirror. She searched the area and eventually found the mirror control device. She pondered what action to take. She could use the mirror to jump to an alternate reality - but how would that help her get home? As far as she was aware the mirror that they'd had on Earth had been destroyed and there was also the small fact that she couldn't survive long in an alternate universe if her counterpart was still alive there, because of entropic cascade failure. And - how would she be able to tell if any of the realities would be safe for her? She didn't want to run the risk of ending up on an Earth overrun by the Goa'uld or the Replicators. For the moment Sam reluctantly decided 'not' to activate the mirror. She dropped the control device into her pack and continued her exploration.
It took her the better part of two hours to travel the whole room and complete the circle back to the gate. There'd been neither sight nor sound of any living thing. Though at the far end of the right hand wall she had, at last, found what appeared to be a door. What she couldn't understand, however, was that it was quite an ordinary sized door and if this place was, as she was rapidly beginning to believe, a museum or repository of some kind, then how had the larger items been put here? She smiled to herself - maybe she'd finally stumbled upon a civilisation that had 'Star Trek' style transporter technology. 'Yeah - maybe they'd be good enough to just 'beam' me back home' she thought.
Sam was feeling tired now and her shoulder was painful, she really needed to rest before continuing her exploration. She had tried, unsuccessfully, to strap her shoulder but it was impossible - it 'would' have to have been her right arm that was injured. Fortunately she could at least manage to fire her zat with her left hand - just in case she needed to defend herself.
She sat with her back leaning against the damaged DHD as she ate a meal bar and swallowed down some painkillers with a little water. She didn't think she'd be able to find food or water in the hall that she was in and needed to carefully ration what she had until she had at least found a way out. That was her next task; climbing unsteadily to her feet she made her way back down to the door.
The fact that she could find no mechanism for opening the door came as no surprise. There was no handle, as such, and the door itself blended almost seamlessly into the wall. There was a small raised area on the wall adjacent to the door, about the size of a standard light switch, but there were no buttons or markings of any kind upon its surface. Sam placed her hand, palm down, upon the area but nothing happened. She tried prising the two halves of the door apart but the fitting was so smooth and close that she couldn't get any purchase and hadn't the strength, with only one arm, to put any real effort into it.
Finally, in disgust at having to do something so crude, she fired on the panel with her zat. Amazingly the door slid silently open. A gust of cooler, fresher air wafted over her, but beyond the door all was pitch dark - she could see nothing. Even the beam from her powerful flashlight only penetrated a few feet, and gave her no indication of what lay beyond its' reach. She could only assume that it was the middle of the night and that she would have to wait for dawn before continuing her mission so, reluctantly, she decided she could do no more for the present. She made herself as comfortable as was possible, on a hard floor and with a broken collarbone, and tried to get some sleep.
Jack sat at his desk staring at a spot on the wall. The same spot that he'd been giving his undivided attention to for the last twenty minutes.
Carter was gone. He might never see her again. The realisation hit him like a hammer blow. He'd lost teammates before, it was almost inevitable during so many years of service, and some of them had been close friends, like Charlie Kawalsky, but he'd never felt this level of devastation on those occasions. He'd been telling the honest to god truth, years ago it seemed now, when he'd uttered those fateful words.
"...because I'd rather die myself than lose Carter"
He really hoped that he hadn't lost her, he had far too much that he still needed to say to her, things that he wanted them to do together. He cared about her and he certainly wasn't ready to let her go before he'd had the chance to show her just how deep that 'caring' really went.
Some of the science staff were working on the theory that if the wormhole had jumped, then it could only have jumped to a relatively close location. Even now they were waiting for the computer to churn out a list of possible destinations for them to try. But Jack was no fool; he was knowledgeable enough to realise that it was a very long shot. The activity was more to give those helplessly standing by some succour and ease their frustration.
Carter was gone and he was alone. Again.
Sam stirred and a jarring pain from her injured shoulder jerked her fully awake. She sat up and looked around her. Checking her watch she saw that she'd been asleep for almost six hours but, surprisingly, there was no change in the nature of the light, or the distinct lack of it, through the open doors - it was still pitch dark.
She took a sip of water but refrained from eating any more of her precious food supplies. Crossing to the open doorway she flicked on her flashlight. The beam barely seemed to penetrate the inky blackness at all. In fact it didn't take her long to realise that this wasn't the 'outside' at all, but simply another vast room - this time without the dim lighting that illuminated the gate hall.
Stepping cautiously through the doorway she took a few tentative steps to the right keeping light contact with the wall so as not to lose her bearings. She managed several yards before the darkness began to close in on her. If there was one thing she 'really' hated it was impenetrable darkness. She felt suddenly as if she were suffocating. Gasping for the air that she really knew 'was' there she leaned against the wall, turned, and made her way back to the dim glow she could see coming through the open doorway.
Reaching the haven of the room she slumped to the floor, her shoulders heaving. After several minutes her breathing began to slow down and her heart rate dropped back to a more normal level. She felt ashamed. The strength of her reaction had surprised her; she hadn't reacted quite so badly since she'd been a teenager. She was pretty sure that she'd been in equally dark places since being on SG-1, but then she'd always had the comfort of the others close at hand. But, whatever the reason for the severity of her reaction, she sure as hell wasn't planning on repeating it anytime soon - at least not until it was her last resort.
Slowly she got to her feet. A tentative plan had been coalescing in her brain, probably even while she was still asleep - that was usually the way her mind worked. She made her way through the cluttered room back to the DHD.
Squatting down in front of the control panel she took a pad and pen from her pack and started to make notes. Half an hour later she carefully went through the list she had made. 'Yep that's it' she thought 'everything I need to fix the DHD - now all I have to do is to find an alternate reality where I can persuade someone to let me have what I need to get me back home.'
It was a long shot, she knew, but she was rapidly coming to the conclusion that it might be her only chance of ever getting back to the SGC, to SG-1 and to one particular person. Sam couldn't help the grin that spread over her face; the thought of O'Neill was more than enough to give her hope. She'd do everything in her power to get back to him, he'd expect nothing less of her, and this time when she did there'd be no leaving anything in any 'room'.
So she'd find a different reality through the mirror and do her damndest to get them to help her. The main problem, as far as she could see, was choosing the 'right' reality - how would she know? She mentally shrugged, maybe she'd have to just take pot luck but one thing was sure- she'd have to make very certain that she could return to 'this' reality. This stargate was the 'only' one that could get her home.
The 'Dr. Carter' she'd met three or four years ago had told Daniel that provided the mirror control device was left on it would remain linked to its point of origin no matter what its final destination but, just in case, Sam planned to make the place easy for her to recognise again. She tore several sheets of paper from her pad and wrote on them in bold letters.
MAJOR SAM CARTER SG-1 USAF 07/21/03
She would add the time just before stepping through the mirror.
Sam drew a deep breath, she hoped beyond hope that she could find a reality where she could get the help she needed. It was going to be tricky she knew. She needed a reality close enough to her own to have a Colonel O'Neill and an intact SGC and preferably a Samantha Carter. Sam would really appreciate the assistance of her counterpart in acquiring the parts for, and ultimately fixing, the DHD. She realised, however, that she'd not be able to stay for more than about 48 hours in the same reality before cascade failure set in, in which case she'd be doomed if they weren't able to send her back.
According to the report given by Dr Carter there may not be more than a dozen or so realities left where the Goa'uld had not overrun the Earth - it was a terrifying thought.
She searched in her pack for the mirror control device. She remembered Daniel telling her that to find a reality close to their own, only small increments were needed. Sam operated the device and the mirror quivered into life. The image she saw was one of total devastation; she quickly moved on. The next place looked very like a storeroom - just like the one at Nellis in fact, where their own mirror had been stored. She decided to risk it. Checking her watch she added the time, in large easily read numbers, to her note and placed it on the floor where she would be able to read it from the other side. Taking a deep breath to calm herself and steady her jangling nerves, she touched the surface of the mirror with her hand. She immediately found herself on the other side in the storeroom. Quickly she wrapped the control device in a spare t-shirt and stowed it in her pack. Stepping away from the mirror, she checked the note she'd left behind, slung her pack over her good shoulder and waited, holding her weapon at the ready.
As she had expected, she didn't have to wait long. Half a dozen men, in recognisable army uniforms burst through a nearby door and quickly surrounded her, their weapons levelled.
"You!" one of them shouted "lower your weapon - now!"
Sam did so immediately dropping her zat and kicking it across the floor where it was picked up and examined by one of the soldiers.
"How did you get in here?" one of the men, a Sergeant apparently, barked at her.
"I came through that," Sam pointed at the mirror "I'm Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force. Please - I need to speak to either General George Hammond or Colonel Jack O'Neill at Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain."
Two of the men exchanged glances. They gestured to Sam with their weapons.
"Come with us - and keep your hands up where I can see them"
"I can't" Sam tried to explain, "I've broken my collar-bone"
The soldier turned and hit her upper right arm with his weapon. Sam screamed; the searing pain making her knees buckle and bringing tears to her eyes. She was grabbed, none too gently, by two of the men and hauled off.
"Tell us all you know about the Stargate," the voice demanded yet again.
"Oh God, how many more times. Look, please let me speak to O'Neill or Hammond or Samantha Carter, assuming you have one here. I've told you everything. I'm from an alternate universe, I came through the quantum mirror and all I want is a few hours of your people's time to help me fix a busted DHD so I can get home. Please you have to help me - I don't have much time."
"What can you offer us in return?" one of her interrogators finally asked.
"Jeez" Sam muttered, "Whatever happened to a little altruistic aid to someone in trouble?" She thought for a moment. She didn't really have the authority but if it was the only way she'd have to give them something.
"You can have access to everything in the hall where I found the mirror. There's lots of stuff there, I'm sure your scientists will have a field day with it."
The two men exchanged a look and, as one, stood up and left the room. Sam dropped her head onto the table; she'd been questioned non-stop for what seemed like hours. They'd offered her no sustenance and the pain in her shoulder was becoming almost more than she could bear.
Suddenly the door opened. A man entered; someone she hadn't seen before.
"Major Carter?"
"Yes" Sam replied wearily.
"I'm Lt. Colonel Miller - please come with me."
"Please Colonel" Sam wasn't above begging "help me. I need medical assistance - my shoulder..."
"Yes Major I've been informed. Please forgive the rather poor treatment you've had so far - I've only just been made aware of your presence. I'm going to escort you to the base infirmary for treatment then, as soon as you're ready, we'll fly out to Colorado Springs."
"Oh thank God." Sam breathed.
This was just too weird. Sam was being escorted along the corridors of the SGC - and yes they called it that here too - by Lt. Colonel Miller. She was being taken to see General Hammond. Everything looked so much like 'her' SGC she decided that this reality must indeed be very close to her own.
She paused as she reached the door of Hammond's office, smiling at Miller.
"It's exactly the same in my reality," she explained.
He nodded "Must be strange for you"
"You bet, Sir"
Miller knocked on the door and stood aside for Sam to precede him into the room.
General Hammond was seated behind his desk. He looked 'exactly' like her Hammond though, Sam noticed, the layout of his office was different.
"General Hammond Sir" Miller spoke "This is Major Samantha Carter."
"So I see" Hammond looked as if he couldn't really believe his eyes "it's uncanny - please Major, take a seat. Thank you Colonel Miller."
Miller nodded to the General and gave Sam a brief smile before leaving the two of them alone.
"Very well Major - tell me your story."
Sam did so - starting with how she came to find herself stranded without a means of returning home and telling the General all she knew about the mirror and alternate universes.
"Fortunately, when I found the mirror that I used to get here there was a control device with it."
"I see. I did wonder how you'd got the mirror to work. We don't have a control device and so were never able to investigate further."
"It's the same for us Sir. The control device in my reality was lost when Daniel Jackson visited the first ever alternate. The Earth of that reality was overrun by the Goa'uld and their SGC was destroyed."
"Ah - so you have a Daniel too?"
Sam shook her head sadly. "Had, Sir. I'm afraid Daniel is no longer with us."
"I'm sorry to hear that Major, but this is all fascinating."
"Sir, please I must explain that I have very little time. I know I only have about 30 hours now until I start to experience entropic cascade failure - that is assuming you have a Sam Carter here."
"I understand major, and yes we do have a Samantha Carter here - you'll be seeing her shortly. We've also had experience of the entropic cascade problem, so we understand the urgency of getting you back home."
"Then you'll help me fix the DHD?"
"Yes Major, we will - if it's at all possible."
"Thank you Sir."
Hammond nodded. "Major, if you'll follow me we'll go and find your 'other self'"
Hammond led the way down to Sam's lab. Two armed SF's following at a discrete distance. The general stood aside at the door to let Sam enter.
"Wow" she said.
"Amazing" said the woman facing her.
"It's like looking in a mirror" they said together and smiled at each other.
It was certainly true. 'This' Sam was also in the military; she had short hair too. Then Sam noticed her insignia. She smiled and saluted.
"Major Samantha Carter. Pleased to meet you ma'am."
'This' Samantha Carter, it seemed, had outstripped her counterpart - she was a Lt. Colonel. She grinned.
"At ease Major - and please no formalities, it's just too strange - call me Samantha." She held out her hand and Sam clasped it.
"Thank you - my people usually call me Sam."
After introducing the two Carters, Hammond retreated to his office. Once he'd actually seen and talked to 'Major' Carter he'd quickly come to realise that she was genuine. He didn't envisage her presence being a security risk and he fervently hoped that they would be able to help her return to her own reality. If she was as important to the SGC as his 'own' Carter, then she was already being severely missed by her colleagues, of that he was certain.
"So Sam" Samantha said, "I understand you have a DHD that needs fixing?"
"Yeah" Sam nodded "I've made a list of the things I think we'll need. I know that I'd be able to get hold of most of them from my own lab, and this reality is so close that I hope you'll have them too."
"Okay, let's have a look"
Sam handed over the list. Samantha nodded as she perused it, and then looked up at Sam.
"This one may prove a problem," she said shaking her head.
"Yeah, it would have been for me too, but I thought maybe the Tok'ra could help. You have met the Tok'ra?"
"Yes we have" Samantha smiled "is your Dad..?"
"Yeah, he's host to Selmak. Yours too?"
Samantha nodded and chuckled "Seeing us both is going to blow his mind"
"Too right" Sam joined in the laughter "he always found just one of us too much to handle."
"Martouf too will be delighted" Samantha added.
"Martouf! He's alive?"
"Yes, at least I hope so. He certainly was last time I saw him. Why, what happened to yours?"
Sam looked sad, Samantha noted.
"It's a long story"
"In that case we'll leave it until we've done what we can here. I guess the first thing is to contact the Tok'ra."
The two women walked together to the control room causing many a head to turn on their short journey.
"So, where's the rest of SG-1?" Sam asked her counterpart.
"Oh they're off world at the moment; in fact they're due back in a couple of hours."
"You didn't go with them? Or are you not part of the team?"
"Yes, I'm still a part of SG-1, but I'm confined to base just at the moment."
Sam was intrigued but it was obvious Samantha wasn't going to offer any more by way of explanation.
They quickly obtained Hammond's permission to contact the Tok'ra and whilst they were waiting began to gather together the other items they'd need to try and effect a repair to the DHD.
They chatted companionably. Sam found 'this' Samantha a lot easier to get along with than 'Dr.' Carter had been. She guessed it was probably because they were both in the military. Their lives had actually been pretty similar. Samantha's mother hadn't died in a car crash when Sam was thirteen but of cancer when she was eighteen. Both women had had a fling with Jonas Hansen, though Samantha had dumped the guy before going so far as to get engaged to him.
"So" Samantha asked "anyone since?"
She noticed that Sam flushed a little before answering.
"No, not really - all the guys who ever showed an interest er...died."
"Really?"
"Yeah - Martouf, Narim, Orlin - even Joe Faxton."
"Who?"
"Joe Faxton. The Ambassador to the Aschen - or at least he would have been."
"Who are the Aschen? I don't think we've ever come across them."
"You haven't? Did you ever receive a note from a future Colonel O'Neill warning you to not visit P4C 970?"
"No never - and it's not a planet designation I recognise."
"So you've never signed a treaty with the Aschen?"
"No" Samantha answered, obviously intrigued "Is it important?"
"Yes - very. I'll give your General Hammond a full report to be on the safe side."
"Sure. Look I think we've done just about all we can her for the moment. Why don't you come back with me to my quarters while we wait for the Tok'ra? You must be worn out?"
"Thanks that'd be great - I must admit my shoulder is hurting like hell."
"Come on then - you can freshen up and then meet the rest of the team. They'll be back soon - I can't wait to see their faces when they see you."
They both chuckled.
"So who else is on the team - if you're here?"
"A young lieutenant - Elliot his name is."
"Oh Elliot was a good guy, I'm glad he's okay here." Samantha looked questioningly at Sam. "Our Elliot was killed in a Goa'uld attack on a Tok'ra base I'm afraid."
"Oh that's bad news. I know Jack thinks highly of him and he gets on well with Daniel and Teal'c."
Sam was taken aback "Daniel is still alive as well?"
"God yes - very much so" Samantha saw the tears suddenly appear in Sam's eyes. "What happened Sam?" she asked gently.
"Almost two years ago he got a serious dose of radiation poisoning. He was dying but...Have you ever come across Oma Desala?"
Samantha nodded.
"She allowed Daniel to 'ascend'. So he's gone but he's not really 'dead'. Though to be honest it feels just as bad."
"You loved him?" Samantha asked.
"Yes - he was like a brother to me. It's going to be odd to see him again."
"Yeah - I bet. Well come on - let's go."
Samantha led the way to her quarters on base. Sam was surprised that they weren't where her own had been, especially so when Samantha stopped and opened the door of what appeared to be a VIP room.
"Come in"
"Wow" Sam was amazed "this is a helluva lot better than my quarters. Just goes to show what having a bit of rank gets you I guess."
Samantha gave Sam a rather strange smile "Well, could be" she murmured.
Sam looked around her. There was a large bed/sitting room, a separate kitchenette area and a bathroom. It was almost home from home.
"Excuse me a minute Sam" Samantha said pointing to the bathroom "I won't be long, make yourself at home."
"Sure, thanks"
Samantha disappeared into the bathroom as Sam wandered around the room. She decided to make them both some coffee and didn't hear the sound of the door opening quietly behind her over the sound of the coffee grinder. The first she knew that there was someone else in the room was when she was spun around and enveloped in a pair of arms. Before she could protest she was being thoroughly kissed - by Colonel Jack O'Neill. She began to melt into the kiss before common sense kicked in and she began to struggle in his arms.
"Jack for goodness sake" Samantha's droll voice sounded behind them "Put her down - she's not yours."
O'Neill jumped back, staring open mouthed at the two women. One with a highly amused smile on her face, the other flushed red and looking acutely embarrassed. Then he noticed that the 'embarrassed' looking Sam had her shoulder strapped up.
"What the hell's goin'on?" He looked questioningly from one identical face to the other.
Samantha wandered over and kissed him gently on the cheek.
"This is me Jack," she said with a chuckle "and this" here pointing to Sam "is Major Sam Carter, she's from an alternate reality. She came through the quantum mirror that they've got stored out at Area 51."
"Fer cryin' out loud - again?" Jack exclaimed.
"It's okay Sir" Sam spoke for the first time, still consciously trying to still her wildly beating heart, "I only want a little help to fix a broken DHD so that I can return to my own reality."
"A broken DHD?" But if you've got access to a working mirror why can't you just use that?"
"It's a long story Sir, one that I haven't really got time to relate, but the mirror in my reality was destroyed."
"Oh, oh I see - I think" He grinned at her and her heart did a crazy flip. He was 'so' much like her own Colonel O'Neill. Except for one major thing of course - there was absolutely 'no' way that her Colonel would ever kiss her like that. Sam flushed again at the thought and dropped her eyes. Samantha exchanged a very knowing smile with 'her' Jack.
"So - how was your mission?"
"Fine - just peachy. And you?"
"I'm good - well to be honest the sickness is horrid but Janet assures me that everything is perfectly normal."
Jack hugged her tightly.
"Never mind baby - it'll soon pass."
"Yeah I know - once the first trimester is over. That's what every one keeps saying, but you know how much I hate feeling ill."
Sam had witnessed this little scene open mouthed.
"Er, would I be right in thinking that in your reality you're not my wife?" Jack asked her, a huge grin on his face. "My 'pregnant' wife." he added.
"Wife!" Sam squeaked, "No - I'm just your 2IC."
Samantha laughed, "Well I'm that too."
Jack suppressed a smirk. If this Sam Carter was 'only' her O'Neill's 2IC then why had she been enjoying that kiss so much. There was definitely more going on here.
Samantha continued, "It seems that your counterpart isn't quite as inventive as you love" she said to Jack with a chuckle. "But enough of this, we need to get some help from the Tok'ra - were just waiting for them to contact us."
"And time's running out" Sam added in desperation.
Just as she'd finished speaking an announcement came over the PA system.
"Colonel O'Neill, Colonel Carter, Major Carter to the control room immediately please."
The three exchanged a glance and headed of f for the gate room.
"Receiving Tok'ra IDC" the technician announced.
Samantha turned to Sam.
"D'you want to join me. It might be dad?"
"Thanks"
The two Carters exited the room leaving Jack with a bemused smile. The likeness between the two was astounding, though Jack liked to think that he would have been able to tell that the Carter he'd been kissing wasn't 'his'. It was pretty obvious that 'Sam' Carter had feelings for her Jack and if the one in her reality was anything like him - well - then it was a crying shame that they weren't together. Jack had never even remotely thought of himself as a matchmaker; but maybe, just maybe, he could help out a little. He'd have to have a word with General Hammond.
Samantha and Sam, meanwhile, were waiting at the bottom of the ramp in the gate room. Both simultaneously broke into identical broad grins when they saw who was walking towards them.
Sam was standing a little behind Samantha - so at first Jacob Carter only registered that his daughter was waiting for him.
"Sammie" he gave her a hug.
"Hi Dad"
"So you want our help I hear?"
"Well Dad, not me exactly" Samantha stepped aside. Jacob's jaw dropped.
"Er - hi Dad" Sam said, trying to stifle a grin at her 'father's' reaction. Jacob looked from one to the other, his mouth gaping like a fish out of water. Up in the control room Jack too was chuckling at the sight.
"What the."
"Dad" Samantha said "Let me introduce you to Major Sam Carter - she arrived here from another reality - and she needs your help to get her back home."
"Okay - that's good enough" Jacob turned to Sam "What do you need?"
Both women began talking at once. Jacob just shook his head and laughed, exchanging a very speaking look with Jack who joined them from the control room. They obviously agreed that having two Samantha Carters about was beyond them both.
Jacob quickly realised the urgency of Sam's request and word was sent immediately to the Tok'ra home world for the items they needed to repair the DHD. An hour later they had everything they thought they needed and were ready to head out to Area 51 to go back through the mirror. It was soon decided that both Jacob and Jack were going along to keep an eye on the two Samanthas.
When Sam had been initially apprehended her pack had been taken off her and, of course the mirror control device had been discovered. Hammond had assured them that the device was to be handed over to them upon their arrival at Area 51, but Sam was pretty certain that it wouldn't now be connected to the mirror in the hall. She just hoped that she would be able to find her own reality without too much difficulty.
Her three companions insisted on accompanying Sam through the mirror. Samantha had to fight hard to assure Jack and her father that no harm was likely to befall her unborn child.
"Look guys, I can't think of any reason why this should cause any harm and I won't be around in Sam's reality long enough to feel the effects of cascade failure. We're not expecting it to take us more than a couple of hours to fix the DHD."
Reluctantly the two men agreed and Sam had to admit she was relieved, having Samantha 'and' her father with her dramatically increased her chances of effecting a successful repair.
Soon they had reached their destination and were met and were escorted to the mirror by Lt. Colonel Miller. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Sam and Samantha together, He could distinguish between them only because the Carter he'd met had her shoulder strapped up.
"My God - it's incredible"
"Colonel Miller" Sam greeted him " this is Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, Colonel O'Neill and General Jacob Carter."
Miller shook hands with the SGC personnel.
"Pleased to meet you at last." he said "Major Carter, I've been instructed to give you this." He handed over the control device. As Sam had feared - it had been switched off. She just hoped that the signs she'd left would enable her to locate her own reality.
"Thank you Sir. Excuse me but this may take a while." Sam activated the device and the mirror sprang into life. Her four companions were entranced. Sam adjusted the dial. The mirror showed a dark room, half full of fallen masonry.
"Well that's definitely not it" She tried again. Next up came a storeroom, almost identical to the one in which they were standing.
"Nope - that looks like an alternate Area 51" The others nodded in agreement.
"Next there came view of what was obviously a laboratory. They could see the back view of a woman in a white lab coat, a woman with long blond hair. The two Samanthas exchanged a smile.
"No again - I guess," said Jack.
"Come on" Sam muttered to herself "Ah - this looks better."
This view was definitely familiar to Sam. It was the same hall with the stargate - and there was the boldly written sign she'd left for identification.
MAJOR SAMANTHA CARTER USAF 07/20/03
"There, that's it" Samantha cried.
"No, no" Sam interrupted "it's not quite right - but we're close" She adjusted the setting once more giving a heartfelt sigh as she recognised the note that 'she' had left.
MAJOR SAM CARTER SG-1 USAF 07/21/03 08-21
"This is definitely it" she turned to her companions.
"Okay" Jack said "let's go - Dad you coming with me?" The two men placed their hands on the mirror's surface and immediately found themselves on the other side. They turned back to look at Sam and Samantha.
"The likeness is uncanny isn't it?" Jacob said softly.
"Sure is - I really hope we can get Sam safely back home. I bet her Jack is out of his mind with worry - even if he won't admit it to anyone."
The two men moved out of the way as Sam and Samantha stepped through the mirror and quickly made their way to the DHD.
"So - do I take it that 'this' Sam and her Jack aren't involved?" Jacob continued the conversation with Jack.
"Apparently not - Sam tried to convince us that she's 'only' his 2IC - but I don't believe it. Well I 'do' believe that she's telling the truth, but I'm sure it's only the regs keeping them apart."
"Hah! Regulations" barked Jacob "didn't stop you from seducing my daughter did they?"
"Hell - no" Jack grinned.
"So?"
"So what?"
"So you gonna give your 'alternate' self a push in the right direction?"
"A kick up the ass, more like" Jack grunted, "Guy must be a fool."
"So you're going to go back with Sam? Through the gate?"
"Yeah. Thought I might - just for a look-see, ya know."
"Of course you know Samantha will insist on going with you?"
"I know"
"You gonna let her?"
"Come on Jake - you know what she's like. If she really wants to go there's no way we'll be able to stop her. I took the precaution of having a word with Janet before we left - as long as it's a short visit, Samantha should be fine."
"Good, that's good. Now let's go look at this DHD shall we?"
Both Sam Carters had their heads buried in the innards of the DHD when Jacob and Jack joined them.
"So how's it going girls?" Jack asked.
"Good, Sir" Sam replied.
"Jack honey, it's going to take us a while. Why don't you and Dad go exploring?"
The two women exchanged smiles - they both knew Jack's boredom threshold was low. He'd need something to keep him busy.
"Oh, okay - be sure and call me if you need anything."
"We will."
"Sir?" Sam called Jack back "there's a door at the far end leading to a second hall. It must be vast but there are no lights. I think it could be well worth investigating."
"Thanks Sam - we'll go take a look."
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to squacco
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Stranded Part 1
by SquaccoSite Navigation
Support Heliopolis