DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).
Chapter 33: Major Samantha Carter
I knew it would work.
'Right, Sammy, tell yourself another one.'
My father's voice is as plain as if he were standing right beside me.
I wish he were.
I can't remember ever feeling quite so helpless...well, maybe there have been a few other times...
No negatives, Sam.
Daniel always tells me that when we're in the midst of some puzzle that's got us stumped and I'm ready to give it up.
No negatives.
My classically trained scientific brain didn't have a clue as to what Daniel meant the first time he said it. I couldn't figure out why I shouldn't be negative when faced with a seemingly impossible task that every theory I'd come to recognize as immutable fact failed to explain it. But then I watched him. The incredibly intuitive brain working seemingly tirelessly through one night and into another, seeing things I'd overlooked, countering my negatives with...if not exactly positives then alternative perspectives. Perspectives which, if not entirely correct as a whole, bought about enough of a change in my thinking to lead us to another path...another way of viewing the problem and eventually to an answer.
I love those 'Doctor Jackson sessions', as I call them. The times when Daniel can and does bring to the forefront that impressively-educated, and decidedly unorthodox, intelligence. His hands and voice race one another in their haste to express themselves as quickly as his brain.
Sometimes I'll just sit back and simply enjoy the show. The ever more frenetic pacing, the hands...so expressive in their own right, the eyes that seem to focus on things just outside of my ability to perceive.
It's quite a sight to behold...
I remember the first time Colonel O'Neill walked in during one such session. The look that came over the colonel's face was priceless. It was pretty obvious to me that, while the colonel had previous been aware of that Daniel was "way smarter" than most, it was probably the first time he'd actually been privy to the process proving it. The rapid-fire self-dialog expounding on obscure fact...I mean nobody really is supposed to know this much stuff without a mountain of reference books. Daniel in full 'Doctor Jackson' mode is a scholar's dream...or nightmare depending on the topic in question. The colonel just stood there staring, his open-mouthed expression shifting from mild amusement to deep confusion to just plain disbelief. Over time I've seen that disbelief shift to respect...a further foundation for the unique friendship the two of them share.
The sixth chevron has locked before I pull myself out of my thoughts to monitor the final glyph locking in. I'm chewing on my thumbnail again as we wait for the iris code.
I knew we'd done good work with the reactor, but that knowledge did little to ease my fears that something...anything...could go wrong. When the inner ring started to spin I was able to release the breath I'd been holding since Ferretti pushed my backside into the wormhole...literally.
That man had better watch his own backside. He's definitely on my shit list for the foreseeable future. I'm not seriously angry with him...much...and if this works I'll be glad he did it, but it just a matter of principle with me...
My place was with my team.
The MALP comes through but nobody's breathing yet.
A huge cheer goes up when Skaara nearly flies out of the wormhole.
And there's Major Ferretti...coming out backwards, gun still raised.
There's two...
Long moments pass...
Too long...
Where is SG1?