Voices from a Lost Time - Chapter 1

[alvericff]

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1, Atlantis or Universe, I am only playing in the world.

A/N: Sequel to 'Under the Silent Stars'

Voices from a Lost Time - Chapter 1

With unknown enemies at their door and no way to find them, voices from the forgotten and rediscovered past open up new paths for SG-1 to tread, while Sam and Cameron learn to accept all they are to each other.

Discovering sources of forgotten knowledge. The sort of task SG-1 was put together to do. The Universe will do its best to provide with infinite variety and diversity, if Sam and Cameron are prepared to see what's in front of them. If they can it will take them one step closer to the identity of their new enemies, and a confirmation of themselves and their strength.

Atlantis, December 26th, 2007

"Merry Christmas, Atlantis!" Cam cried after he stepped through the Stargate from the Midway Station, dropped his duffel at his feet and stretched out his arms. Sam closed her eyes and sighed, resting her forehead in her hands. Cam ignored that and instead embraced her warmly. She smiled and returned it, seeing him again felt so good. "Hey there, Sam. We miss you. I miss you." he whispered against her ear without releasing her.

"I miss you all too. It's good to see you, Cameron." She pulled away and held her closed fist over his head, bringing it down with a solid thump. "And that's for only giving me two days warning you were coming. At Christmas! What were you thinking?" John chuckled from behind her while Rodney gave a miffed little mutter. Cam rubbed the top of his head with one eye closed in mock-pain.

"I was thinking I was gonna surprise you for your birthday in a few days." he replied with a pout. Her eyes widened in alarm for a second as she realised she'd kind of forgotten it was her birthday soon. "Hey, Sheppard, Dr. McKay, good to see you guys again." Both men nodded at him, Sheppard with a lop-sided grin and McKay with a slight smirk. "Hope all you crazy Canucks and other Brits and Commonwealth types are having a pleasant Boxing Day." Cam pointed at Sergeant Campbell on the balcony and McKay, who seemed surprised, before he moved up towards Teyla and Jennifer Keller standing next to John and extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Cam Mitchell, I don't think I met you ladies the last time I was here." Sam smiled slightly before making introductions. Rodney plucked at his lip in sudden thought.

"Cam, this is Teyla Emmagan, she's a leader among the Athosians and a member of Colonel Sheppard's AR-1 team, and this is Dr. Jennifer Keller, Atlantis' Chief Medical Officer." She indicated each woman in turn and Cam shook their hands with a smile. "You'll get to meet Ronon Dex in a while, he's off-world right now with Major Lorne's team."

"I look forward to it. He's the guy with the dreads you mentioned?" he asked and she nodded in reply. "Man, if he's half as good as you describe then I'd pay to watch him and the T-man sparring.

"Hey, I'll have you know I can keep up with him when we spar." John said with a faintly proud glimmer in his eyes as he crossed his arms.

"John..." Teyla raised an eyebrow as she looked at her team leader askance and he glowered at her.

"Okay, he may be going a little easy on me, but it's only a little!" Sheppard's voice clearly showing his indignation. Sam and Cam both chuckled. "What?" He glowered at them theatrically.

"Yes, yes, yes," Rodney suddenly interjected, surprising them with how quiet he'd been until then, "I'm sure your relative rankings at the mighty skill of waving sticks about until you poke an eye out is very important to you people, but I think you're all missing something of far greater importance here." They all turned to look at him with varying degrees of irritation.

"And what's that, Rodney?" asked Sheppard with a sidelong glance of frustration at Teyla. She returned it with a look of condescending patience for both of them. Rodney pointed at Cam.

"He just said," he flicked his finger to point at Sam, "that it was her birthday in a few days." Sam groaned as Cam grinned. The others' features lit up in surprise and delight.

"That's right! And I'm here to make sure she celebrates it in style!" Cam announced and Sam turned to him with a long suffering look in her eyes. "What?" She was embarrassed enough that she'd forgotten it was her birthday coming up but she'd had no plans to actually celebrate it anyway. Being the head of Atlantis didn't afford her time for such things. "Ohhh, no." She tilted her head as she looked at him. "No, Sam, you're not planning to work through your birthday, are you?" She sighed and crossed her arms. "Aw, man! What are you planning on doing, huh? Paperwork? I'll tell you right now that ain't gonna happen." He held up his finger in warning while lifting his eyebrows and giving her a significant look.

"No, Cam, I'm actually due to go off-world on a diplomatic mission." she replied and he huffed and frowned at her. "It can't be rescheduled." she said with finality.

"Then I am going with you to make sure you really enjoy it!" he declared and Sheppard laughed. Jennifer covered her mouth with her hand to suppress her giggles.

"Cam, I'm going to work, this is important." She looked at him in warning. "John and I are going to negotiate the creation of a sanctuary on a world untouched by the Wraith. It's vital we succeed. I can't afford to have you get in the way." Cam glared at her for a moment then turned to Sheppard.

"You're going as her protection detail, Shep?" he asked pointedly. John nodded.

"Yes, sir, not that she needs it, the place has never even seen a Wraith, they literally can't survive there." he replied. "Besides, Colonel Carter could kick my ass six ways from Sunday, if she ever felt like it." He grinned at the horrified look Sam gave him.

"You're okay with me taking your slot then?" Cam asked seriously.

"Give up my chance to visit a garden paradise so my commanding officer can be annoyed on her birthday? Sure thing, sir." John joked.

"Great! That's settled." Cam concluded and Sam whirled on him as John spluttered.

"Hey! Cam, you can't do-" She stopped when he raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly at her. She ground her teeth before closing her eyes in frustration. "Fine! Sheppard, brief the Colonel on the Urdijine later." Cam grinned in triumph and Rodney couldn't contain his laughter at John's miserable expression. Teyla smirked as well.

"And after that," Cam continued, "you are taking the next two days off. I'm taking you camping!" He picked his duffel off the ground where he'd let it drop and looked at her with a huge smile on his face. Damn it! Why did he do these things to her?. She sighed, closed her eyes and nodded despairingly. "That's what I'm talking about! Let's go grab some lunch, Sam." She led the way from the 'gate room leaving a stunned John Sheppard in their wake.

"I think I just got mugged." he breathed in amazement as Rodney and Jennifer laughed. "But I understand what Teal'c meant now." He crossed his arms and Teyla looked at him questioningly. "One time, when I was debriefing the SGC, I asked him how he ever got Colonel Carter to stop working and unwind. He just said," he tried his best impression of the Jaffa warrior as he spoke, "Colonel Mitchell."

"If he smiled at me like that and asked to take me camping, I'd go, and Teyla knows just how much I love the Great Outdoors." Jennifer added with a distant smile on her face. Rodney scoffed.

"Come on. He's nothing special." He smirked until both women had given him pitying looks and walked away. "What?"

P2W-217, January 2009

"Things are real quiet here, sir." Cam spoke into his radio as Sam watched him from the DHD. "These folks are friendly and interested in trade. Though I don't know how interested they'll remain if we leave 'em with Vala for much longer. Daniel can only do so much apologising." he joked and Sam shook her head and sighed. Cam gave her an innocent, questioning look before grinning.

"That's good to hear, Colonels," came Landry's reply through the open wormhole. "I'll expect another report in twelve hours. Teal'c has contacted us from Chulak with good news, Bra'tac won the vote." Cam turned to Sam with a huge grin which she shared. "SGC out."

"Yes, sir. SG-1 out." he signed off and went to stand by Sam when the wormhole disengaged. She smiled at him as she rested her hand on her P90 and Cam took off his patrol cap and ruffled his hair. She took his cap from him to his confused look and put it on her own head, reversed, and smiled smugly as she pulled her short braid to hang around her neck. "Lookin' good, Sam." He grinned and touched her elbow to get them moving back towards the village at the base of the forested mountain path they were on. He walked alongside her and gazed down the escarpment into the valley down below. It was a breathtaking view, the tidily situated village resting in the green fields below them, while the forest flowed down the hill they were on and around the edge of the village to the foothills beyond it. Yes, breathtaking. Except for the Tel'tak flying towards the Stargate from across the valley.

"What the Hell?" Sam cried and began pulling him towards the treeline on the opposite side of the path. They moved through the trees towards the 'gate in hopes of sending a message back to the SGC and Cam pressed his radio's send button twice, waiting for the same in return, only speaking when it came.

"Jackson! Vala! Be advised we have a cargo ship coming in! Observe low emissions protocols until we find out who the Hell they are! Keep your heads down." He whispered fiercely as he followed Sam to the treeline before the Stargate then cursed silently as he saw the ship land right in the middle of the clearing. He put his hand on Sam's shoulder to stop her moving forward anymore and reached into a pocket to pull out a small eyepiece.

"Acknowledged, Cameron," came Vala's quiet reply. "observing radio silence and blending in." He smiled as Sam rolled her eyes at the former smuggler's words, but truth be told, Vala was probably the most accomplished of them all at blending into the typical galactic background. He looked through the magnifying scope as the cargo ship's main entrance extended and opened and a small contingent of humans dressed in leather and dark clothes, armed with slug throwers of various calibres and a few energy weapons, spilled out into the clearing. A severely dressed woman, with her hair tightly pinned back, was at the lead. Cameron glanced at Sam and she smiled ruefully and nodded. He activated his radio with a double tap and waited. He looked up suddenly when he heard the rumble of thunder coming from the western skies and picked up his radio again when the signal arrived.

"Guys, we have Lucian Alliance," he whispered, handing Sam the eyepiece which she used to observe the newcomers. "do our friends know anything about them?" He checked his P90 until he caught the double pop of static over his radio and returned the signal.

"Nothing, Mitchell." Daniel whispered. "They've never heard of them." Cam frowned as did Sam until her eyes widened and she tapped his forearm and pointed towards the ship. Groups of men were spiralling out from the center of the clearing, some moving right toward them. Cam pulled at Sam's arm and they began moving away through the trees.

"Cam, we have to make a run for the village it's the only way off this ridge." She whispered from behind him.

"No good, Sam. It's too exposed." He cocked his head as he heard the distinctive sound of another Tel'tak coming in to the clearing. "It's about to get really crowded on this hill." he grumbled and picked up the pace. He held up a fist and pulled Sam around him to the other side of a tree when he heard movement behind them. Crouching down he peeked around the tree trunk to see a Lucian Alliance mercenary moving through the undergrowth heading away from them. He used hand signals to indicate that and motioned for them to move in the opposite direction. Sam pulled him along while he covered their six. They were being pushed closer and closer to the exposed path down to the village and Cam knew it wouldn't be long before they were discovered. The rain started to come down a few minutes later, soaking into their green BDUs.

They finally spilled out of the trees onto the gravelly path with the short grass verge and precipitous escarpment beyond it and Cam knew they had no time left. The boulders up the path were the only thing screening them from the view of the Lucian Alliance mercenaries surely coming to secure the path. His gaze cast about for anything that could help and alighted on a tree growing up from just past the drop off beyond the path. He grabbed Sam's arm and motioned her towards it. She looked at him in puzzlement and trepidation until they got to the edge of the escarpment and looked down to see a small grass-covered shelf under them, held up by a solid slab of exposed rock which jutted out beyond that. He quickly pulled her arm and motioned for her to grab on to the tree and slide down, helping her to get a grip on it and waiting for her to signal from below she was okay before leaning out himself and grabbing a branch, then swinging out to wrap his arm around the tree. A noise from beyond the rock outcropping had him swiftly sliding down the trunk lest he be spotted, only for him to lose his grip at the bottom of the tree, swaying precariously until Sam grabbed him and pulled him to her against the rock face. He pressed into her with his eyes closed for a moment before signalling he was fine with a nod and pushing her on under an overhang from the escarpment above. It was no defense against the now torrential downpour but it kept them out of sight of the path from above, while the rock ledge they were on kept anyone from seeing them from below. The sound of voices caused him to signal Sam for silence as he pushed her back against the rock face with one arm and strained his ears to listen. A woman's voice, barking orders, yelling for the men to secure the path but not to go beyond the first bend. They weren't interested in the village then, why were they here? He heard heavy foot steps crunching up the path over the din of the rain.

"-va, the clearing is secure. Everything is ready." He recognised that voice. Where from? The look in Sam's eyes told him she recognised it too.

"Very well, I will inform my father. Now we wait for them to arrive through the Stargate." The woman's voice took on a decidedly unhappy edge. "Maybe they will finally tell us what it is that they want from us." Her footsteps moved away up the slope back towards the clearing. This was a meet-up between the Lucian Alliance and someone else? Why here? He sighed as it dawned on him. There was nothing here, that's why. Except for them. Fat lot of good it was doing them right now. He looked at Sam who gazed back at him. Soaking wet, her sandy blond fringe, darkened by the rain, escaping from under his sodden patrol cap on her head. He had to suppress a smile, she looked beautiful. Then again Sam always looked beautiful to him. He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed it down a bit indicating she should sit. She nodded and complied, they could be there a while. He sat next to her and they both unclipped their P90s, laying them down beside them and hunkered down under the downpour which obscured the sight of the valley down below.

Six hours later it was dark. And the rain, if anything, was coming down harder. Cam couldn't really remember what it felt like to be dry. They hadn't even been able to signal back to Daniel and Vala that they were safe as there was a guard only about twenty meters away. He wouldn't be able to hear much through the noise of the rain but then again neither would anyone on the other end of the radio unless Cam shouted into it, which kind of negated the whole concept of going unnoticed. With the coming of dusk it had begun getting progressively colder, and with the incessant rain he could feel Sam shivering beside him. He turned his head to look at her by the light of the planet's bright moon, which pushed through the clouds to illuminate the night and her features. She'd turned the cap to face forward, to keep a little of the rain out of her eyes. She looked pale and bedraggled with rivulets of water running down her cheek and neck, her arms crossed tightly against her chest and her knees drawn up. He grimaced. He pulled at Sam's sleeve, she turned her head to him and caught on quickly enough. He unzipped his tac vest and opened it to get all the pockets out of the way, then raised the arm nearest her over his head, she rolled and slid over his leg to huddle back against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her pulling his knees up tight against her sides. This close he could whisper in her ear over the sound of the rain without being overheard.

"How're you holding up, Sam?" She turned to look at him, still shivering, jaw clenched tight, and rolled her eyes. He nodded and pulled her in tighter, feeling her wrap her hands up around his arms over her chest. "We probably should have done this sooner. Lost a lot of body heat already." She nodded shakily. He leaned his cheek against the side of her head and felt her press into him in return. It was getting far too cold. They sat huddled together for another hour before the screaming whine of the engines of the two Tel'taks taking off and flying over their heads into orbit had them looking up into the moonlit haziness of the night. Cam reached to Sam's radio and gave the button a triple tap to signal all clear. "Jackson, Vala, come in." he croaked into the radio as loudly as he could over the din.

"Mitchell! We saw the ships leaving, no-one came to the village. Where are you? Are you guys alright?" Sam chuckled weakly at Daniel's babbling stream of questions, letting her temple rest against Cam's cheek as she shivered relentlessly.

"Yeah, we noticed that too. We're stuck on the side of the cliff. No, we're drenched and freezing." he dealt with each of Daniel's thoughts in turn. "We need a hand getting up from here, Jackson, any chance you can come by with a goodly length of rope?"

"We're on our way, Jolo says the path is dangerous in the rain at night but he's willing to help us." Daniel's words made him smile.

"Can you make it quick Daniel, I'm worried about Sam." he said softly as her eyes flicked towards him and she mewled a protest. He hushed her with a finger against her lips and she let her cheek rest against his once more.

"We'll be as quick as we can, Cameron," Vala answered in Daniel's place, "hang on just a bit longer." He held Sam more tightly against him, if that were possible, and she buried her face against his cheek, pressing her forehead to his temple as the bill of his patrol cap flattened and dug into his hair. He raised a hand to stroke against the cool skin of her cheek.

"Hang on, Sam. I've got you."

USS Odyssey, above P3X-474, May 2007 + 1,102 days relative

"Come on, Daniel, it's movie night. We're watching the big damn movie." Sam put her hand on the linguist's shoulder as she walked up behind him in the Asgard Database room. He turned his head to look at her as if surprised to see her, looking down at his watch and smiling sheepishly. She smiled back and glanced at what he had been looking through, shimmering fields of flashing and shifting Asgard runes. "What are you reading?" He turned back to the display and frowned slightly.

"Something about the internal politics of the Altera as the Asgard viewed it." Daniel replied. "Seems they identified a few separate factions within the greater whole of Alteran society, which of course is to be expected."

"Of course, cultures aren't monolithic and heterogenous, that's how we were able to whittle away at the Goa'uld so effectively. They were never able to present a unified front against us." Sam crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side.

"Right, though they were worse than most. Seems there were two main camps. Most of what we know of the Altera is thanks to the first group, who saw it as part of their duty, to the next evolution they had seeded, to leave behind their knowledge." He pointed at a line of floating runes which Sam couldn't read. "They were the builders of Atlantis according to this." Sam nodded for him to carry on. "The other faction apparently had very little interaction with the other races, they were considered isolationists by our little grey-skinned friends and even by the Nox. Which is really saying something if you think about it."

"They disagreed with the idea of seeding a next evolution?" Sam asked and Daniel turned to her with his eyebrows raised, shaking his head vehemently.

"No, in fact they came up with the idea." he replied and Sam blinked in surprise. "They didn't want to leave any knowledge or technology behind. They wanted a clean slate."

"What is with all this book learnin' happenin' in this here room! Don't y'all know there's a movie about to be shown?" Cam barged in on them and Sam smiled at the glint in his eye. He grabbed the back of Daniel's belt and pulled the spluttering and protesting archaeologist behind him, back towards the door. "Come on, Jackson, don't want to miss your unsettlin' space courtesan now, do ya?" He winked at Sam and she laughed again, throwing Daniel an apologetic tilt of her head as he glared her way.

Auburn, Kansas, August 2010

As the engine shut off on Cam's black Mustang, Sam opened the door and stepped out onto the gravel driveway in front of the Mitchell family farm. Looking between the barn and the house, she smiled softly. It wasn't her first visit but coming here always filled her with a sense of belonging. Cam's family were so inviting and had accepted her instantly, had accepted her even before she and Cam had gotten together.

Cameron's features were slightly worried as he appeared from the driver's side and she remembered what had brought them here today. Wendy Mitchell had had an accident and been injured, Cam's father had called the base's personnel contact number and the SGC had relayed it up to Selenis. Cam had explained to the AI that her existence was a secret from the vast majority of humanity, something she had been curious about, but she agreed to remain silent while the call was coming through. It hadn't been a serious accident, Wendy had slipped and fallen down the stairs of the farmhouse, but she'd broken her ulna and smacked the underside of her chin on the bannister. Sam caught her love's eye and he nodded, reaching inside behind his seat for their duffels, she locked her door and moved towards the house. Frank was already opening the front door with a smile on his lips as he leant on his crutches.

"Cameron, Sam. You didn't need to come so soon." He beamed when Sam kissed his cheek and hugged him. "Wendy's fine, she's going to be more embarrassed than anything."

"You know Cameron, Frank. He worries when those close to him get hurt." Sam said with an indulgent smile as she looked at Cam walking towards them. He smirked and glared at her before putting an arm around his father's shoulder.

"I know. Come in, Wendy's in the living room and Emma's in the kitchen." Frank led the way inside and Cam's Aunt Emma came into the hall and embraced Sam heartily. She was an effervescent woman, Wendy's cousin from Wisconsin, she visited quite often and would be staying with them while Wendy convalesced.

"Samantha! So good you could come! You managed to bring Cameron too, bless you child!" She gave Sam a conspiratorial wink before moving to embrace a glowering Cameron. "Don't make a face like that Cam, it'll get stuck that way."

"I am not six years old anymore Aunt Emma, I'll not fall for your tricksy ways!" He embraced her and left their duffels by the stairs when Emma released him and returned to the kitchen, telling them dinner would be served soon. Cam followed his father into the living room where Wendy was waiting for them, seated in her usual wing chair by the fireplace. She had an arm in a cast and resting on a large pillow she held on her stomach and lap, while the currently unused sling still hung from her neck. She had a great deal of bruising along her neck and face but her eyes were sparkling when Cam and Sam walked into the room.

"Cameron, Samantha! You didn't need to come just to see me." She motioned them over and Cam leaned down and kissed her cheeks as she put her arm around his shoulders and did the same with Sam after he moved off.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Cam muttered to his parents' chuckles. Sam rubbed his arm as he gave her the wounded puppy look.

"The two of you must be so busy in Colorado Springs. To drive all the way to Kansas just to see me..." Wendy shook her head as she motioned them towards the loveseat close to the window which let Sam lean against Cam's arm with her legs folded under her.

"Of course we'd come, Wendy, Cam couldn't rest easy until he'd seen you, for one." Sam looped her arm through Cameron's and rested her head on his shoulder. "It was easy enough for us to get time off just now. Things are a little quiet."

It wasn't strictly a lie, the last week had been nearly dead since they'd gotten Vala back from the future. They had no leads on the ships which had attacked Earth and the Tok'ra's network was turning up nothing. Analysis of the debris was inconclusive, and the ships never once sent out any communications that could be detected. Everyone at the SGC was fit to be tied.

"Recently, we've just been doing a lot of research, Cam flies me around and carries my stuff for me." Sam said with a teasing smile.

"Sam! That is not an accurate description of my duties." Cam reproached her, but she just inclined her head and looked at him. He stared back and blinked a moment before looking up in recollection.

"Well, recently I have been doing a lot of that," he muttered and she grinned triumphantly, "but that's not all that I do!" He looked at his parents seriously. Frank smiled and Wendy chuckled.

"Well, you have a leg up on the house training already, Samantha." she said and Sam laughed while Cam covered his eyes with his hand.

"Sorry son, but you're whipped." Frank elaborated to his wife's laughter and his son's groans.

"Dinner's ready!" called Aunt Emma from the kitchen and Cam leapt up from the chair.

"Saved!" he cried and held out his hand to help Sam up, she took the opportunity to lean against him and kiss him gently.

"Oh, Cameron," his mother waved him over and he came to help her stand, "a letter came for you from the Landmark National in town, addressed here for some reason." She reached for the side table, but Cam lay a hand on her arm and reached for the letter himself. Opening it with a puzzled look.

"What is it, Cam?" Sam asked as he scanned the letter inside.

"They say the lease on my safe deposit box is coming up and are asking if I want to renew it." He frowned slightly. "Did you guys open a box in my name when I was a kid?" he asked his parents who shook their heads, until Wendy's eyes brightened.

"Wait! Uncle Daniel left you something in his will, it was a key. The will said it was for my first-born. I suppose you hadn't been born yet when it was written. It could be a safe deposit key, maybe." She arranged for Frank to go and fetch it as they walked towards the dining room. Sam and Cam looked at each other pointedly at the mention of his alternate self's alias. "I'd completely forgotten about it, I'm so sorry, honey."

"Don't worry about it, Mom, we'll go check it out in the morning." Cam smiled reassuringly, before easing his mother down into her seat at the dining table.

The next morning saw them walk into the Landmark National Bank on Washington Avenue and ask to access a safe deposit box. Cam produced a key on request and they were led down to the vault where a box was retrieved from the safe itself. When asked if he wanted to continue leasing the box Cam replied in the negative, to which the bank employee nodded and left to collect some paperwork for him to fill out. Sam watched as Cam opened it, sure they were both wondering what his alternate self had left behind, but hadn't included with the parcel he had stored at Cam's family home. It came as a bit of a surprise to find the box was empty.

"Well that was anti-climactic." Cam groused and tipped the box up to get a better look inside, only for a small envelope to slip down to the front of the box from its hiding place in the shadowed depths under the box's rear lip. It was a very small envelope, barely large enough for a small greeting card, and was coated in a water-proofing sealant. Cam lifted it and handed it to Sam with a look and stuffed his hand into the back of the box to make sure there was nothing else. It was a small enough envelope that it was possible it had just slipped the older Cameron's mind that it was in there. Sam broke the stiff seal around the fold of the envelope and opened it, looking inside she was shocked at the contents. There was no note or card or anything like that. "What is it?" Cam asked and she looked into his eyes before taking his hand and holding it out so as to tip the envelopes contents onto it. Upon Cam's open palm rested two 32Gb mini-SD cards and a 16Gb micro-SD card, slightly the worse for age and wear. "Mary and Joseph!" Cam cried in realisation. "Eighty-year-old flash memory!"

On to Chapter 2