Voices from a Lost Time - Chapter 3

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

Previously: Ch 1 | Ch 2

Voices from a Lost Time - Chapter 3

Stargate Command, January 2006

"She stopped being 'my Samantha' a long time ago." said Martouf as he looked into Sam's eyes with a combination of sadness and longing. Martouf. Holy Hannah, everything was exactly the same, except for the SG desert camouflage as opposed to the Tok'ra variant. She thought she'd left behind anything she'd felt for him except fond memories, but now he was here and she felt something clawing at her insides.

"I've missed you." she breathed. It was true, she had. Her relationship with him had been just about as uncomplicated as any of her relationships ever got. The only thing keeping them apart had been distance. Not like Narim, whose people wanted little to do with the Tau'ri, looking down on them even. Not like Pete, who made her feel like she had to live a double life, even after she told him about the Stargate. Not like Jack, and the issues with their commander/subordinate interaction. Martouf understood what she went through on a daily basis, he lived it, wanted to live it, he'd always stood by her as an equal. She felt herself drawn in towards him, but even as she slid closer the clawing at her insides continued and grew worse. Then there were the goosebumps she was feeling, like she was being watched. She looked down to see the limpid orbs of Kvasir gazing at her and blinking languidly.

"I have completed the calibrations." the Asgard stated dispassionately. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Thank you, Kvasir." she replied weakly and glanced at Martouf. She sent a tiny little tilt of her head towards the door and he nodded slightly. They walked out together, making their way to the elevator at the end of the hall. She was going to take him somewhere private, her quarters. They entered the elevator but it wasn't empty, another one of the Carters, the one with the glasses, was inside with her SF escort.

"Oh, hey you two, how's it going with Kvasir?" she asked, pushing her glasses up to the top of her nose again. Is that what she looked like when she wore her glasses? She frowned slightly, why had Cam always watched her so closely the few times that he'd caught her wearing them in her lab?

"Kvasir has completed the calibrations, I imagine they will be making the Prometheus ready in the next few hours." Martouf replied with a slight smile which didn't reach his eyes. The other Carter nodded, with the same slight smile. "I imagine you are upset at being stranded here, Samantha?" she tilted her head from side to side with a little look of resignation.

"I understand what motivates them," she touched Sam's arm momentarily, "you know I do, Sam. Do I wish things were different? Sure, but my reality isn't doing too badly against the Ori compared to some of you, we have the cure, we have allies," she sighed, "I can only hope things will work out." She smirked ruefully. "I suppose there are worse realities to be stranded in." She looked at Sam with a glint in her eyes. "Since you'll want to stay as Samantha, maybe I should claim Louise for myself? What do you think?" Sam chuckled and the other two joined in. "Yeah, maybe I'll do that. Anyways, it's not as if I'll be alone right?" She gave Martouf a small smile. "I have my hus-" Carter was interrupted by the elevator doors opening, revealing Sam's Cameron standing there waiting with another Mitchell, he seemed to be the counterpart to the glasses-wearing Carter because she smiled very broadly at him and he smiled in return. "Hey you!" Mitchell stood next to her when he came in and they put their heads together and began chatting in low voices and chuckling. Quite a bit like her relationship with Cam at times. He came in and stood by her with his hands in his pockets, nodding to Martouf.

"Hey guys, everything set with Kvasir?" he asked and Martouf nodded.

"Yeah, Cam, we're all set." Sam replied, he nodded and looked down to the ground for several moments with a slight frown. Her eyes narrowed in concern when she saw it, something was upsetting him, she wondered what it could be. She laid her hand on his forearm and felt him stiffen slightly at her touch, when he looked up his eyes were turbulent. What was wrong with him?

"I was thinking we should bring the first alternate SG-1 with us, eight heads are better than four and all, and your alternaCarter helped you come up with this plan too." he said quickly and she blinked slightly.

"Uh, yeah, that's a good idea actually. Do you want me to come with you to pitch it to the General?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"No, I got it. Right after I get these two to the screening room." He hooked his thumb over his shoulder. Sam glanced over in curiosity.

"They're showing the Mitchell vs Mitchell game on a big screen." Carter gushed and looked at the Mitchell beside her. "Cam got twenty-three points, twelve assists and six rebounds!" She bumped shoulders with the man as he rubbed the back of his neck. Cam chuckled and settled into a wide smile.

"Yeah, Last Shaft of Krypton is a star." he threw over his shoulder and received a clap on the back for his sentiments.

"Says Mr. Triple Double Shaft Prime over here." They both laughed as the doors opened on the level with the recreation room. Cam stepped out as did Carter, Mitchell and the SF. Carter turned and held the door open with an arm.

"Do you guys want to come watch? I hear the female Cameron is shamefully pretty." She grinned. Cam frowned at her and tried to steer the invitation in a safer direction.

"All the Carters missed it since you guys were working so hard, you too Martouf, guess you're an honorary Carter for the time being." He smiled slightly. "Want to come watch?" Sam glanced at Martouf who lifted his eyebrows.

"We still have some things to sort out, we'll catch up okay?" she replied when she turned to look at Cam once more, his eyes flashed with something she couldn't identify. Sadness? Distress? He nodded and looked away, raised a hand in farewell and turned to walk down the corridor, motioning for those with him to follow. Mitchell watched Sam for a moment before glancing at Martouf, then turned to follow Cam. Carter watched Sam for a while longer still, her eyes flashing something behind her glasses that Sam couldn't read. She turned and released her hold on the elevator door, which slid shut, blocking out the view of Carter reaching out for Mitchell's arm. The clawing at Sam's insides came back in full force.

"It's not me you want." Martouf said gently from beside her. She turned to look at him in alarm. "It's closure. Neither of us did anything wrong, Samantha, we just didn't work out in the end. We weren't meant to be, that's all." He smiled at her sadly when the doors opened on sublevel 25 and she stepped out, only to stop when Martouf didn't follow her. "You're with who you're meant to be with, Samantha." She blinked in surprise. "Janet said the game was very good. I think I'm going to go watch it, I'll make your excuses." He smiled as the doors closed and her shoulders slumped a little. She didn't try to stop him going. Was he right? Had she just wanted closure of any kind? She remembered Carter's eyes boring into hers just before she had released the door of the elevator. She'd been trying to tell Sam something. Sam turned around to walk to her quarters. Martouf had given her a lot to think about. Who was she meant to be with?

Urdijina, M3R-921, December 2007

Sam looked around through the faint pink light shining down on the lush fields of the valley where she'd landed the puddle jumper after bringing it down from the Stargate in orbit around M3R-921, or Urdijina as the natives called it. She straightened her Atlantis jumpsuit and stepped from the exit ramp with Cam just behind her. Resting the heel of his hand on the stock of his P90, he gave a low whistle as he looked out to the far horizon. A towering forest of arrow-straight conifers stood off in the distance, standing guard in front of an imposing range of craggy, snow-capped mountains beyond.

The rose sheen was a result of sunlight reflecting off the dust which formed the nebula covering the region of space containing this solar system. Whatever it was, the effects on the Wraith were astonishing, they were unable to come anywhere near this system or the others nearby. Their ships would lose power and drift through the void. However, before that they would suffer from navigational failures akin to disorientation, changing course randomly and spontaneously. If they were lucky these course changes would take them out of the nebula before their power plants failed, otherwise they'd suffer greatly before they died. The hull of the ship would wither and crack, splitting and rupturing in ugly fissures. Eventually killing the ship outright. Individual Wraith suffered far worse, but luckily for them, died more quickly. All in all it would make a perfect sanctuary planet if they could move the Stargate down from orbit. Something Rodney believed was a possibility. The strange thing about this planet was that its 'gate address wasn't in the Ancient database in Atlantis. Sheppard's team had recovered it from the computer of a Wraith hive ship which listed the entire area as a navigation hazard and the Stargate itself as forbidden.

Sam glanced back at Cameron as he came to stand next to her and smiled. She had to admit he filled out the Atlantis jumpsuit well. She smiled appreciatively at him before turning to walk around the side of the jumper to greet their hosts.

"Remember, Cameron, leave the talking to me, try not to woo the Magistrate's daughter." She chuckled at his horrified look.

"For shame, Sam. I'd never do anything like that." He was smiling but there was something in his eyes which made her glance his way again. A sadness? Before she could think more on it the planet's leaders were greeting them.

"Colonel Carter, it is very good to see you again. You and your people are always welcome on Urdijina, I assure you." The tall, willowy administrator gave her a shallow bow which set his flowing robes to ruffling about him and Sam returned it to the same depth.

"Magistrate Urisca, I thank you for your continued welcome and hospitality. It is always a great honour to visit your world and your people." She indicated Cameron and the administrator followed her gaze with interest. "This is an old friend of mine, who is visiting Atlantis and expressed great interest in your world, Colonel Cameron Mitchell. Cameron, this is Magistrate Urisca of the Urdijine." She smiled as she watched Cameron bow down deeply as she had taught him to do. Urisca smiled broadly and held his hands up to his forehead.

"Please, friend, look up and be welcome among us." Urisca's mellifluous voice contained genuine warmth and pleasure at the new acquaintance and Cam looked up holding his own hands to his forehead. "Be recognised a friend of the Urdijine, Colonel Mitchell." He gave Cam the same shallow bow which marked the relation and Cam returned it.

"It is my honour to visit your world and your people, Magistrate Urisca." Cam smiled and gave Sam an insufferable wink and Urisca clapped his hands in appreciation.

"Splendid, splendid. Another visitor from the City of the Ancestors is always a boon to my people." He indicated the others standing by him. "Colonel Mitchell, these are the members of our Council," Urisca motioned to the other council members in turn and introduced them, they each bowed and received one in return, "my wife, Jinaiya, she is the People's Herta," a short woman with greying hair at the temples and a freckled face smiled at them happily, "Ildona, the Farmer's Herta," a weathered man with a slight frame but powerful arms greeted them with a friendly nod of his head, "Orbaro, the Blacksmith's Herta," a muscular man, ruddy-skinned and shaven-headed, smiled stiffly under his full beard, "and Yeva, the Hunter's Herta." a tall woman with sharply chiselled features and piercing eyes watched them warily, her long braided hair wrapped over her shoulder. "We have discussed your proposals Colonel Carter and wish to hear more of the worlds beyond this one. We greatly wish to meet new peoples and form new relations." Urisca smiled broadly.

Urisca led them towards the good sized village in the near distance, the largest of many villages and farming communities which dotted the landscape of the valley, several multi-story buildings with thatched roofs and smoking chimneys dotted the banks of the river which curved along the center of the valley, fed every once in a while by silver lines of flowing water cascading from the highlands on either side of them. At the center of the village stood the tall spire of the the Council Tower which was their ultimate destination. They were served a short traditional repast of roasted sweet meats, which was eaten while standing around an open fire, then sat at the curved council table to begin the discussions. She worried how Cam would take it but she was pleasantly surprised to find him alert and affable when he was asked for his opinion. The council's main concerns were security related, most brought up by Yeva whose purview it was. Sam assured them that until they could work out a way to relocate the Stargate they would only be referred communities who would not require access to it for their trade and well-being. And even after the 'gate was relocated their address would never be revealed to anyone whom the Urdijine had not met before, in person, in Atlantis. With Yeva now cautiously satisfied, discussions moved to more practical concerns of where new communities could be built when the time came. Cam expressed an interest in how the Urdijine would organise the defenses of these communities and Yeva offered to show him around and explain what the main threats were on their world. Mostly some rather larger than normal predators. He accepted and Sam watched him leave with the Hunter's Herta as a rather disconcerting feeling coursed through her. When she turned back she found Jinaiya and Ildona smiling at her in a rather strange way. It wasn't long before they arrived at a tentative agreement, much to Sam's delight.

"This is all acceptable to us, Colonel Carter. Under these conditions and circumstances, we would be happy to offer our welcome and hospitality to any peoples you would consider worthy." Urisca concluded and the other Herta around him smiled broadly and nodded. Yeva returned with a very excited Cam at that point, and she also nodded in acknowledgement of the agreement. Cam sat by Sam once more and leaned in to whisper.

"You gotta see the size of some of the predators they hunt out beyond the northern forests. Foot long canines, Sam." He held his hands out to indicate the size and Sam nodded with a smile. She knew of the creatures and how they roamed beyond the northern end of the valley, unable to move through the protective boundary of the giant trees.

"Colonel Carter, Colonel Mitchell." They turned back to Urisca and stood when he did, with the rest of the Council following suit. "In recognition of the agreement we have reached with the people of the City of the Ancestors, we now make available to you the Caverns of Aleminu, so you may bathe in the purifying waters, before concluding our treaty." He bowed along with all the other Council members, a bow deeper than they would give to a friend. Sam blinked in surprise and glanced at Cam who was also looking on in confusion.

"We thank you, Magistrate Urisca... and humbly accept this hospitality from your world and your people." she replied formally to Urisca's pleased smile. "Though we beg your indulgence of our ignorance as to its significance." Urisca nodded in understanding and motioned for Jinaiya to proceed. The councilor bobbed her head and walked around the council table to loop her arms through both Sam's and Cam's to lead them forward to the door.

"Those who come to us from the City of the Ancestors and form a binding agreement with us, are required to spend the evening before concluding the accord within the Caverns of Aleminu, there to bathe in the hot springs." she explained and Sam looked at Cam over the top of the woman's head. He raised an eyebrow and a smirk crossed his lips for a moment before becoming that smile.

"An onsen?" he asked and chuckled at her confused look. "I was stationed in Japan for seven years after transferring out of the Middle East. I've been to a few hot springs. I can't think of anything better to celebrate your birthday, Sam."

"It is your Birthfeast today, Colonel Carter?" asked Jinaiya excitedly, Sam nodded, finding herself being swept along by their enthusiasm. "Oh, joy to you, my dear, joy to you!" The woman burbled happily as they found themselves on the front steps of the Council Tower, facing a line of four white-robed youths who bowed deeply to them. "Please go with the Aleri, they will guide you to the Caverns and guard your privacy. All has been prepared?" she looked to a young woman who nodded in return.

"It has, mother, the Caverns wait in readiness." Sam remembered the girl from an earlier meeting, Urisca and Jinaiya's child. She was only joking when she warned Cam about wooing her but she did notice the way the young woman glanced at Cam appreciatively.

"We will await your return later in the evening." Jinaiya bowed to the same level she had inside in the Council chamber, deeper than to a friend.

"Thank you, Jinaiya." Sam bowed to her shallowly and Cam followed her lead. She was relieved to see Jinaiya nod happily, so she turned to the youths who were their escorts. "We are in your care, Aleri." She bowed to the same shallow level, along with Cam, and the youths bowed deeply in return and took up positions ahead, behind and to either side of them as they walked along a path towards the ridge line which angled close to the village not far beyond its borders.

USS Odyssey, above P3X-474, May 2007 + 1,121 days relative

Vala bounded towards Sam and leapt into the air to land just in front of her and then wrapped her in her arms.

"Thanks so much for doing this, Samantha!" cried the former smuggler in raptures, and Sam laughed, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"I'm just doing my small part, Vala. You and Teal'c have done all the hard work, and Cam helped put together all the power systems from the F302 he cannibalised." She looked over Vala's shoulder at the Jaffa who nodded to her with a warm greeting. "Are you all set, Teal'c?"

"Indeed, Colonel Carter. This vessel will soon have a pool." He glanced over his shoulder at the rear of the flight bay, where he and Vala had designed, arranged and constructed a large pool, some twenty-four meters by twelve meters, girded with something resembling wood panelling, with a wide pseudo-wood deck encircling the pool itself. It was two and a half meters high, but that meant the pool could be two meters at its deepest point. The shallow end was one meter deep and it began to gently slope after eight meters to a similarly eight meter long deep end. One corner of the shallow end was rounded off and walled in and lined with underwater seating and jets recessed into the walls. Vala had designed it all and Teal'c, Cam and even Daniel had helped put it together under her direction. Cam had also helped with the power, heating and lighting as well as integrating the filtration systems Sam had contributed. Now came the final part, which Sam had needed to very carefully program into the Asgard Core.

"Ready?" she asked as Vala was positively bouncing up and down beside her breathlessly.

"Yes, Samantha, hurry! I want to go swimming!" she cried and Sam grinned, pressing a few buttons on a hand held device, a faint whirring sound could be heard then the splashing and crashing sound of water hitting the lightweight poly-alloy used to line the pool itself. Vala gave a little squeal and ran to one of the sets of wooden steps which climbed up to the wooden deck around the pool and pointed excitedly into it. Sam and Teal'c joined her to see the dozens of points of shimmering white light over the shallow end from which would disgorge over four hundred and thirty thousand liters of water to fill the pool over the next few hours, creating it from pure energy. Vala laughed giddily and made for the edge, taking the short leap into the shallow end and running to stand under the torrent of water pouring out of the nearest shimmering light. Sam grinned, but quickly dialled back the flow at the points nearest Vala so the raven-haired woman wouldn't get knocked down when she got there. Vala stood under the water and jumped up and down on the spot, spinning around and crying like a giddy child. Teal'c stood beside Sam as they watched Vala swinging punches into the waterfall as it fell out of the sky in front of her.

"I think I'm going to have to hit the gym more often, Teal'c. Vala's going to want me to wear a bikini to match hers." she told him as an aside, she faked a look of concern but the sparkle in her eyes gave her away. Teal'c pulled his head up slowly from where he looked at her with a small smile and gazed out over the slowly filling pool and the mad thief running around the shallow end under a series of torrents yelling her head off.

"I believe you mean you will want to wear a bikini to entice Colonel Mitchell." he raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Sam giggled nervously and blushed crimson, unable to meet his gaze. They turned at the sound of someone coming up the stairs and blinked to find General Landry wearing long swimming trunks and holding a beach ball at his side.

"Come on in, General!" cried Vala from under a waterfall. "We'll have it filled in an hour or three." Landry chuckled and lifted his eyebrows at Sam and Teal'c with a grin plastered across his face.

Area 51, Nevada, August 2010

They flew a puddle jumper from Selenis to Area 51, it took most of a day at maximum speed but they had promised the eggheads their own jumper to take apart a while ago and Jack had said there was no rush. So they enjoyed the coziness, though flying a jumper with someone in your lap and kissing your neck wasn't that easy. Coming in cloaked over the Nevada desert was kind of exciting as well. They flew right over the fences at the edge of Dreamland and even buzzed a few of the UFO spotters who liked to congregate at a few points. Sam slapped his arm and Cam laughed. After they got on base it didn't take long for them to arrive at the interview room to which the Lucian Alliance scientist had been brought. She was dressed in the jumpsuit typical of those being held at the facility. They both frowned slightly at it, but technically she was a prisoner. Even if she was being considered for release.

"Hello again, I suppose we weren't formally introduced last time. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, United States Air Force, this is Dr. Samantha Carter, we're with SG-1." Cam pulled out a seat for Sam and let her sit before taking his own across the table from the dark-haired, olive-skinned woman. She regarded them both pensively for a moment.

"My name is Uliria Heidal. I was a scientist among my people. Until the Ori came." Sam sighed and looked down for a second while Cam nodded in understanding. It had been their fault the Ori had come, regardless of their having defeated them in the end. Cam turned to Sam and she nodded slightly.

"We're sorry to hear about that. We really are." she said, turning back to face Uliria. The woman snorted lightly and looked away.

"I know. I also know you liberated my world, late as it was." She looked back at them and there was gratitude in her eyes. "I also know you can't carry the burdens of us all on your shoulders, but my people have a saying, 'a void must be filled.'"

"Nature abhors a vacuum." Sam muttered and Uliria nodded.

"Just so, and if there is one thing the Lucian Alliance is good at, it is finding a 'void' to 'fill'." She glanced between them.

"We were told you have intel you wish to trade with us, but my understanding is you're likely to be released, to your choice of world." Cam prompted, leaning forward. Uliria snorted more loudly and rolled her eyes.

"Yes I have intelligence I wish to trade." she began. "I wish to trade it now because I don't want to be released." Dawning realisation crept up on Cam and he looked at Sam and saw the same in her eyes. "I was in charge of maintaining the Stargate connection during your assault. The only reason I was doing that was because Kiva had my predecessor killed, to prove a point to Dr. Rush." Sam's gaze turned steely and angry, Cam's own jaw clenched and he looked away. "If I am released I will be taken by the Alliance again. I don't want that, I never wanted to work for them." She paused looking at both of them in turn. "I want to work for you." They glanced back at her and her eyes were hard. "I don't agree with everything you do, but I prefer your reasons for doing them." She looked pointedly at Cam. "That... and you waited for us, as many of us as you could."

"We'll take it up with The Powers That Be. You understand we can't agree to anything ourselves." Cam offered and she nodded. "It might help if you gave us some idea what your intel might be." She nodded again.

"The Lucian Alliance isn't really interested in Destiny." She smirked at the look of surprise in their eyes. "Only Masim is. And he is only interested in it because of the people who told him about it. People he meets with from time to time." She tilted her head to the side and Cam nodded, standing up. Sam followed suit and they walked out to discuss things with Homeworld Command.

Thirty minutes later they were sitting in a small briefing room, reading several files, while waiting for a conference call with the Pentagon. Cam pushed the file he was reading towards Sam and tapped his finger over a line which she read then glanced at him with a small nod. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, they'd come to a decision. Just in time as well because the screen before them flickered from the logo it had been displaying since they'd arrived to an image of Jack O'Neill adjusting his shirt.

"Afternoon, sir." Cameron said, sitting up straight. Jack was startled and looked at the monitor then glared off-screen for a moment.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Wilson? Not until I say 'go'!" He nodded when he received a muffled 'sorry, sir' then turned to them. "Close your eyes a sec." They looked at each other and Cam smirked while closing his eyes. "Alright, Wilson, go." They opened their eyes again. "Afternoon, Carter, Mitchell." Jack intoned in a good imitation of a professional General.

"Yes, sir. Afternoon." Cam replied with a smile. Jack looked at Sam pointedly.

"One of these days I'm going to reassign Walter to my office, you know." He glanced off-screen with a mock-glare and Sam chuckled.

"You'd have several SG teams practicing incursion and extraction protocols of the Pentagon in preparation for staging a rescue op, Jack, including SG-1." She looked at Cam who grinned.

"You kidding? We'd be on point." he added. O'Neill glanced off-screen again.

"You hear that, Wilson? Guess I'm stuck with ya." he grumbled to an amused 'yes, sir' from the unseen Tech Sergeant. He glanced down at the sheet of paper in front of him before looking up again. "So this Uliria Heidal has info on a third party who told the Lucian Alliance about Destiny. It wasn't Telford?"

"That seems to be the case, sir. If the intel is credible." Cam conditionally confirmed.

"Which we won't know until we check it out." He balled the paper up and threw it away, probably at Wilson. "And what she wants in return is to work for us? Mercenaries."

"There's Mercenaries then there's mercenaries, Jack." Sam fingered a transcript in front of her. "It seems she was on the Lucian Alliance's 'incentive' program as opposed to its 'remuneration' program."

"Meaning she worked for them and they paid her by letting her keep working for them." O'Neill muttered and they nodded. "If she's credible." They nodded again. "Well if she is, what do we do with her? Is she any good?"

"She maintained a wormhole connection to Destiny using store-bought computer equipment from Earth and program interfaces written by Dr. Rush." Sam offered.

"Right. So she's good." He scratched his chin. "Still..."

"Yes, sir. She has... security implications." Cam confirmed. "At least... she does here in the Milky Way." O'Neill's eyes widened and he looked to Sam who nodded.

"She has no family, no ties left to her homeworld, which is where we'd send her and where the Lucian Alliance would find her again. No desire at all to be anywhere they could reach her, and since they've shown they could reach her even on Earth..." Sam paused for emphasis, "she would jump at the chance, General." O'Neill frowned then shrugged.

"I'll take it to the IOA. We'll see, give me a little time, O'Neill out." he signed off with another glare off-screen.

On to Chapter 4