The Patience of Kings - Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1, Atlantis or Universe, I am just playing in the world
Previously: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4
The Patience of Kings - Chapter 5
Andrews AFB, Maryland, July 1997
Dear Cameron,
Sam looked at the salutation for several long moments after she wrote it. She lifted her pen to tap the end of it at her temple. She meant it. If she could ever admit it to herself, she actually meant more. She just wondered if he would feel she had the right. She'd hurt him. And then, after she'd realised he'd been right about Jonas, after the man had proved himself to be exactly as Cam had described him, she hadn't called on him. She hadn't known what she could do to make up for it. She looked up from the letter pad on her lap and glanced around the lounge at the various officers relaxing while they waited. She looked back down at the lightly patterned writing paper and sighed.
I'm writing to you because I've been assigned to a new command in Colorado and I don't know if I'll get a chance to tell you what I need to after this. I hope I can explain to you how much I regret what happened the last time we spoke. Regret isn't a strong enough word.
She lifted the pen again and clicked the button a few times as she frowned slightly. She moved her hand back down and flicked the pen back and forth in her fingers. This was far too hard.
"Sam?" She froze at the sound of the voice to her left and turned her head slowly to look up. He stood there in his dress blues, his cover in his left hand, a duffel in his right. Sam blinked as she drew in a slow breath while he lifted his duffel and dropped it in a seat nearby.
"Cameron?" she breathed as she stood up and turned to face him. He looked down at his cover, turning it around in his hand before looking up slowly, following the line of her calf and the blue skirt up her thigh, then taking in the curve of her hip and waist only vaguely hidden by the cut of her jacket. She blushed as his eyes travelled further up, over the medals and ribbons on her chest and up the line of her collar and throat, taking in the short cut of her hair against the side of her neck and jaw. Up her flushed cheek to meet her gaze. Her eyes hadn't missed how he filled out the dress jacket of his service blues either, or the gold leaves on his broad shoulders, or how the muscles in his neck and jaw were flexing slightly as he watched her. She thought he was angry until she caught his eyes. There was no anger in those sparkling baby blues. Only a vague melancholy.
"Sam..." he whispered hesitantly and when she saw his arms open slightly the distance between them vanished as she was in his arms before she knew she was moving. She felt his arms around her shoulders and her breath caught in her lungs and she nearly let out a short giddy laugh as she pressed her cheek against his neck. "I missed you." A tear rolled down her cheek when she heard his soft words.
"Cameron, I'm so sorry." She felt him shaking his head. "No, Cameron!" She pulled back slightly so she could look into his eyes. "I'm sorry." His jaw clenched slightly then he pulled her back towards him and clutched at her back tightly.
"I don't want to talk about that. I just... I want our friendship back, Sam." he said and she nodded.
"I want that too, Cam. I've missed you as well. Missed your friendship." She pulled back again and lifted the pad she was still holding. "I was writing you a letter..." she began, but trailed off, letting the pad drop in her seat. She tucked the pen into her pocket and looked up at him. "I suppose I've been trying to write it for years. I never get very far."
"I've been writing you a letter as well." he muttered. "I always go a little too far." She looked at him curiously for a moment and he just smiled faintly. "So what brings you to Andrews? If you have a little time then maybe we can grab a coffee and something to eat at the mess?" Sam smiled and nodded, turning to the seats she put her pad back in her own bag and hefted it after picking up her cover. Cam picked up his duffel again, tucked his cover between his ribs and the elbow of his weighed down arm and motioned for them to begin walking towards the commissary.
"I have a few hours still before my flight." she offered as he fell into step with her. "I've been assigned to a new command out of Cheyenne Mountain." He blinked at her.
"You're leaving the Pentagon for Colorado Springs?" He looked thoughtful at her nod. "Doing what?" She didn't respond for a moment. This was like a repeat of five years before. He had the same look in his eyes, wondering how this would get her closer to being an astronaut. She hated so much having to lie to him.
"Deep Space Radar Telemetry analysis." She cringed at his small grunt. "Cameron, trust me when I say I'm on the right path. I will succeed-" she stopped when he put his hand on her forearm as they walked into the refectory.
"Sam, you're a lot smarter than I am, I'm sure that if you say this is the right thing for you to do, then it is." He looked into her eyes for a second. "I trust you." He led her inside after giving her a smile which left her flushing lightly. She blinked a few times before regaining her wits.
"I know you think I've given up, Cam-" she froze when he whirled on her with fiery eyes.
"I think no such thing, Sam." He drew his lips tight and turned away for a moment. "I tried... to get more information about what you were doing. I suppose I was... well... it didn't matter because the few times I tried I got a concussion from running into the massive walls that sprung up out of nowhere." She blinked and looked away, he reached over and flicked her cheek so she'd face him again. "Your 'research project' wasn't just research, Sam, I know that. I can read between the lines. Whatever this is... it's important." He smiled at her again, that smile that never failed to get her heart going.
"Cameron..." she began softly as he raised his hand up.
"Hell, I'll just be happy if I can call you." He pulled her forwards by the elbow towards a table where they dropped their duffels and hats.
"You know, they have this new-fangled thing these days, called a 'computer'." she offered with some air quotes and grinned at his glare. "And on these... 'computers', you can use this thing called 'email' to send messages over 'the Internet' to anyone who also has access to a 'computer'." She sprinkled air quotes liberally as he turned to face her.
"If you're not careful, 'Sam', I will 'kick' your little 'ass' all over this 'mess'." His use of air quotes had her laughing instantly, she'd never thought of using them on someone's name. She reached up and grabbed at his air quoting fingers and held on to his hands until he smiled crookedly at her. It was her turn to lead him onwards.
"So why are you at Andrews? And when did you become a Major?" She let her fingers fiddle with the gold leaf on his right shoulder as he piled some fruits onto his tray and held up a banana enquiringly. She nodded and he put it on her tray.
"Just last week actually." he replied with a smile.
"Congratulations, Cam." She beamed at him and put her hand on his arm. He smiled in return.
"I'm here Stateside because of it. I was meeting some of the brass for an evaluation interview. It must have gone okay as you can see." He smiled slightly. "Heading back to Kadena now, via Edwards." Sam paused as she picked up a bowl of blue jello which had inexplicably, to her mind anyway, remained uneaten by anyone else, much to her delight. She watched him as he looked appraisingly at the pecan pie then glanced down and drew her lips into a tight line.
"Are you on a set schedule to get back to Okinawa?" she asked softly. He looked over to her, but she dared not look up.
"No, actually I have a week's leave. I was thinking of looking around the Sequoia National Forest to the north of Edwards." he replied gently. Her shoulders slumped slightly. "It was just a thought though. I'm not married to the idea or anything." She looked up at that, seeing his eyes with the twinkle of a smile that she hadn't seen since leaving the Gulf. She blinked rapidly and cleared her throat.
"Maybe you'd like to visit with me for a while?" she asked hesitantly. "It's been such a long time and I think... we have a lot of catching up to do... more than just a few hours at Andrews can fit in." He watched her for several seconds before looking down at the pecan pie again.
"If you think you can put up with me for a few days, I can't think of anything I'd like more." At his reply she let out the breath she'd been holding in, only for her eyes to widen in alarm at what she'd just done. She didn't have a house yet! She had been planning to stay on base for a while. She closed her eyes and winced. She couldn't back out now though. She just couldn't! "Did you get yourself a place with a spare room?" She glanced up in a little bit of a panic. "Well, that's no biggie, I can always stay on your couch." His smile faded into a look of confusion, then one of incredulity. "You don't..." She shook her head and he held a hand up to his forehead as she bit her lip. "I swear, Sam," he began chuckling, "brain the size of a planet, but absolutely no common sense." She punched his arm with a glare as he laughed. "Tell you what, how about I help you look for a place? It'll give us time to catch up and I can make sure your house doesn't end up being a lab with a cot in a lean-to for you to sleep in." She reached up and thumped his head even though she was smiling inwardly.
P8Y-028, May 2007
Sam sat down against the tree with her P90 resting in her lap. She glanced over at Teal'c as he walked slowly around the small cluster of broken columns and stone walls which marked the ruins Daniel was currently besotted with on this, their first mission since their return from Orilla and P3X-474. She again let her eyes fall along the wide strip of grey hair which ran along his right temple, the indelible proof of over fifty years spent living aboard Odyssey. Fifty years which never happened for anyone but him. Vala was trying to engage him in conversation again, obviously fishing for clues as to what might have happened aboard that ship, but he only smiled at her. If any more proof were needed that Teal'c had actually spent half a century living with Vala, it was the fact he had yet to kill her despite her persistent interrogations over the past few days. She smiled at that then closed her eyes. She could sense Cam approaching from behind the tree after his perimeter check. Even though he moved soundlessly through the soft loamy forest trail she could feel his presence in her bones. She sighed softly as a small smile played across her lips when he stopped next to her and crouched down beside her. She glanced over to see him watching the two aliens talking to each other. Or at least Vala talking and Teal'c absorbing her entreaties.
"We're never gonna get anything out of him, are we?" he asked as he stretched out a leg from under him and leaned back against the tree next to her. She had yet to take her eyes off him, even as he took off his patrol cap and ruffled at his hair. She just watched the small movements of his face, the small gestures of his hands and fingers as he checked over his P90. He hadn't even noticed that he'd sat down right next to her with their shoulders touching. To be honest, she hadn't either until that moment, it hadn't struck her as odd. It made her wonder about the reason behind that. The reason behind the familiarity she felt in his presence.
They'd known each other a long time, she'd had a huge crush on him for most of that and they'd enjoyed a fairly casual affection with each other since the Academy. They weren't touchy-feely or anything, but sometimes the contact just came naturally between them. They'd hug easily, without awkwardness, he'd rest a hand on her shoulder as he looked over at something she was showing him on her laptop, they'd steal food off each others plates and swat at each others hands to keep the other at bay, they'd find themselves sitting together during team movie nights, with Sam quite often draping her legs over his as they stretched out.
However, none of that compared with the simple rightness she'd been feeling in his company since the mission on Odyssey. Before she would have at least felt some fluttering in her stomach, a slight nervousness being so close to him, the lingering attachment of her crush, she supposed. But since then it felt different. She unconsciously found herself gravitating towards him, instinctively sat beside him or stood next to him whenever they were together and she never felt awkward about it. And neither did he. It was as if her presence was just something he expected to have right next to him, just as she felt the right place to stand or rest was wherever he was. She sighed and turned away to watch Teal'c once more.
"No, I don't think we will." she replied with a slight frown. "Teal'c believes he is doing the right thing, moreover it's something we asked him to do." She looked again at Cameron and he was gazing back at her. "He promised us and he won't betray that trust." Cameron nodded and looked over at Daniel, brushing away at a stone plinth laid across the forest floor amidst several broken columns.
"I would have gone crazy, Sam, I'm sure I would." he murmured without looking over at her. "I wouldn't have lasted five years cooped up on a ship, let alone fifty. Not without something to ground me." She found herself holding her breath, wondering what he meant. "I either did myself a mischief, as my Grandma would say, or I..." his jaw clenched and his eyes became turbulent. Sam felt the colour rising in her cheeks until she turned away to look out over the forest. "Something happened, Sam." he said hoarsely. "I don't know what, but I can feel it deep down."
"Something important." she breathed hesitantly. She could sense him nodding from beside her without needing to look over. She felt the same as he did. It was an impossible feeling, Hell, everything she'd been feeling the last few days was borderline impossible. Knowing she'd found a way to reverse time, even if it was just in a localised field, left her speechless. That alone was impossible according to everything she knew about the laws of physics. She broke the universe and she was certain she had to have had powerful motivation to have found a way to do it. She felt horrible just thinking about it, but she was sure she'd never have lasted fifty years on such a problem with only the fate of herself and her friends on the line, even with the legacy of the Asgard. Something had been driving her which she had been powerless to deny. She glanced at Cam again as he sat watching their teammates pensively. Something important. Something which would drive her to conceive of the inconceivable. Frankly, she wondered how the thought had even entered her head.
"I don't know what it was, Sam," Cam's words broke her out of her reverie, "but I intend to find out eventually." He turned to face her again and she met his gaze with a mirror image of his own intense look. "I need to know what saved me."
Viridia, Perseus Arm Supergate 11, Nonsecti 1421 AL (Lantean years after Exodus)
Sam blinked at the flood of colour and sound that washed over her as she emerged from what had seemed to be a wormhole. That wasn't what she'd been expecting when she lay down next to Cameron in their quarters aboard Galadia in orbit over Camelot. She'd noticed his band had been glowing slightly as she slipped in beside him and draped an arm over his chest. She wondered as well, if her clasp had somehow put her in REM sleep as soon as she closed her eyes.
"Hey, sweetness!" Cam called from beside her as soon as she could focus again, she smiled at how excited he seemed. "You just missed them putting the last touches on Viridia's intergalactic hyperdrive upgrade. It was the coolest thing. I'm so going to add one of those thingamajigs to Galadia when we get back to Selenis." He grinned with a teasing glint in his eye. "Don't you wish you'd come to bed sooner now?" She chuckled as she slipped her arms around his waist and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess I do. I'd like to have seen what they did to Viridia." she replied as he kissed her forehead and wrapped her in his arms. "Maybe we should try and figure out if we can replay some of these memories at a later date." Cam made a noise of assent as she pulled away slightly and looked around Viridia's bridge. Ilemus was looking out into the depths of space with Artros and Larensera sitting casually at the forward stations. Jenavia was in the command chair, her eyes closed as the long fringe of her wavy brown hair swept over her face in the too bright light of the vast star field which was projected above her.
"I gotta do that more often." Cam murmured. He walked over to stand on the short dais and pointed at a star with a blue box around it. "That is Kariala's home star." he mentioned with a quick glance her way. She scrutinised it and nodded, there were no labels, no writing, no information of any kind around the image. Just the box and a blip representing Viridia closing in from a position far below the galactic plane. "They haven't mentioned a name yet, annoyingly." he groused and she chuckled. They glanced forward as they felt Viridia entering hyperspace. Sam walked over to where Ilemus was standing and gazed out the forward views. They were definitely travelling far faster than Galadia's top speed in hyperspace.
"So they did leave Muranis in Viridia, why did they bring her back instead of returning to Atlantis in her?" she asked only for Cam to shrug his shoulders with a wry smile.
"~Viridia, what's our estimated time of arrival?~" asked Ilemus from beside her, forestalling any other suppositions they could make. Sam glanced over at him as he gazed out into space then up at the ceiling when the ship responded.
"~Approximately twelve minutes and twenty-eight seconds.~" Viridia answered in her breathy voice. Sam frowned slightly, the clasps were probably translating time intervals and such things into the human equivalent. She chuckled as she realised Cam making his clasp act as a watch probably made that possible.
"That's fast, that star isn't close to the Supergate. Galadia would take a several hours to cover that distance." she said as she turned to face Cameron. He nodded.
"She's not even straining the engines." he noted with a glance back at Jenavia. Sam blinked, wondering how he could tell that.
"~Ilemus, I'll just say again that this is dangerous. I know you believe Kariala will be in a low power mode as Muranis was, but we have far less information about Kariala's state.~" Artros mentioned from his seat as Larensera got up and walked over to the control chair to stand over Jenavia.
"~I understand, Praediae. Her open configuration allowed far easier opportunities for egress so no one stayed to release the attack programs upon the repository to clear it of infection.~" Ilemus shrugged. "~It only means we must sever the connection now ourselves. However, I am certain Kariala will have powered down as well.~" Artros frowned.
"~How can you be certain of that?~" he asked pointedly. "~We don't know what the Indesta have done. We don't know how they got past our security in the first place.~" Ilemus looked at him with a slight smile.
"~I know because that is what we agreed would happen.~" he replied to Artros' confusion. "~We put in place more than one layer of security against possible Indesta sabotage attempts. One of the most secret were the shutdown codes embedded in the deep matrix of each facility's processing cortex. Unless they arrive in Selerinus together and on schedule they would power down after a set interval of time.~" Artros frowned darkly.
"~Why was this hidden from the Praesedis?~" he growled angrily. Sam watched him in concern and even Larensera seemed slightly taken aback. Ilemus sighed sadly.
"~You said it yourself, Praediae. We don't know how they got past our security measures.~" he replied softly. The soldier bristled furiously. "~Please, Artros, I am not implying any failing on the part of the Praesedis. We just felt we could not take any chances.~" Artros raised a hand to cover his eyes as he visibly struggled to regain control of his emotions.
"Sheesh, I'm glad I'm kinda sorta out of phase right now." Cameron muttered and Sam had to smile and give him a swat on the back of the head.
"~We're here.~" called Jenavia as the Alteran ship came out of hyperspace and slid into orbit around a planet gilded in silver ice and mottled patches of light lavenders and greens. She added a small twist along the ship's axis to bring the planet up high above their heads as it filled the top of the forward views. "~Prinpare Domunis.~" Sam glanced over at Cameron.
"Domain of the First Fathers?" he asked and she shrugged slightly with one shoulder. "We'll ask Jackson later." he said with a dismissive wave.
"~Kariala is coming up just beyond the arc.~" added the young engineer in the command chair. Larensera placed a hand on her shoulder and Jenavia lifted hers to pat it gently. Sam turned to look out the forward view and felt Cam sidle up next to her. They looked carefully at the hazy boundary of the planetary atmosphere and the darkness of space until a silver needle reflected the sharp light of the star shining from below Viridia. They approached it quickly and Sam began to discern structure to the shape. Cam put an arm behind her back to rest a hand on her opposite shoulder and she lifted a hand to brush her fingers along the back of it. They carried on watching in silence as the hooked silver tine grew to span multiple sections of the forward view and continued to grow.
"Just how big is that thing?" Cam asked and Sam shook her head. Kariala still continued to grow as they approached until they began to notice the lines and spires of towers underneath the 'hook' at one end of Kariala, this seemed to be their destination and Viridia was still closing the distance with alacrity. The other end of the 'spear' was now far outside their view. Sam smirked at the recollection of how she'd called Kariala a 'winged spear' after receiving the rush of information from Muranis. "Those are buildings, it's a city like Atlantis." Cam muttered and she nodded.
If the scales were similar then Kariala had to be some fifty kilometers long from this 'hook' to the other end. The hook itself looked to be at least five kilometers high and towered high above the tallest spire. Sam's eyes swept along the raised spines that seemed to lie flush against the curved outer hull of Kariala as it held the city in a hollow under the hook. She walked along the curved arc of windows and followed the line of the spines all the way into the distant vanishing point of Kariala's far end. Viridia finally flew over the lip into the deep valley, which was easily three times the length of Selenis' hangar bay, though limited to Kariala's relatively modest beam of just over two kilometers. The cluster of towers and other buildings nestled at the end, under the rippled mirror of the inner surface of the hook which tapered off to a point high above them. Sam looked at the surface carefully and thought she could make out what looked like faint lines in the mirrors. Cracks? That didn't sound likely.
"I think that hook can come down to cover this hollow." Cam murmured and Sam looked at him and then to the end of the hollow as the shaft of Kariala filled out into a cylinder once more. She had to agree. "Look, Sam, the Supergate." He pointed down past Viridia's prow and Sam saw that the 'floor' of the valley had a mile wide circle cut out of it, and inside was nestled the twisting ring of Kariala's Supergate with a view of the stars visible through the center of it.
"The eye of the needle." she breathed, then glared up at the 'hook' overhead as it ruined her metaphor.
Rampart Range Road near Colorado Springs, September 2010
Sam slipped off her flats, reached into her purse for the small velvet bags she'd placed in there earlier and began to slip her earrings off and tuck them away. She did similarly with her bracelet and hair clips and put all the small bags back inside her clutch and opened the strip of light to slip the entire thing safely away. She imagined she wouldn't have a lot of time once Cam got her home. She flushed involuntarily at the thought. She sighed deeply, wondering how it was that this man could still make her feel like a teenager so easily. She looked over and leaned across to run the back of a finger along his jaw, it brought a slight curl to his lips and she smiled faintly. A smile which quickly disappeared when Cam frowned with a glance up into his rear-view mirror. He narrowed his eyes when a bright light was reflected back into his face and Sam cried out when the Mustang took a huge shunt from behind, forcing Cam to wrestle the bucking wheel in his hands.
"Cameron!" she yelled, turning her head to look behind her at the bright headlights of an SUV behind them. She was thrown back against the seat again when the SUV smashed into them a second time. "What the Hell?"
"Call it in, Sam. And call Daniel too just in case." Cam counter-steered to regain control then floored the accelerator, leaving the SUV behind. Sam drew the strip and reached in for her phone. She brought it up, flipped it open and waited a few moments for the phone to recover from being in stasis. She cursed loudly. "What?"
"No signal!" she cried and he glared at her for a second before turning back to look at the road. He hit the brakes, down-shifting as he went and swung the wheel around to take a tight corner. "Cameron, look out!" she cried as the SUV closed in on them rapidly. Cam floored it again and powered away, sparing the Mustang another shunt.
"What do you mean no signal? They put cell towers all along these roads years ago." he muttered darkly and she just turned the cell to face him and he cursed as well at what he saw. "Grab mine and check it too." Sam did so, slipping her phone back in and grabbing Cam's, she slid the screen up only to groan again a few seconds later. "Radio." She reached in and grabbed a spare radio and checked its frequencies, hearing only static. Still she brought it up to her lips on the frequency usually open for military transmissions by the SGC.
"SGC, this is Dr. Carter, do you copy?" she called into it and waited. "They must have some sort of broad-spectrum jammer." she grumbled, only to lose her grip on the radio when they took another shunt from behind. It skittered into the footwell and under her seat as she was forced to grab the handhold on the door. Cam regained control and started up-shifting on the long stretch to pull away from the car behind them. She glared at him. "Why'd you brake so hard on that bend?" He snorted.
"Baby, the Mustang is a muscle car not a grand tourer," he muttered glancing into the side mirror, "she's built for the quarter mile not mountain hairpins." Sam turned her head to watch the SUV closing in when she felt Cam braking and down-shifting with a little pump on the gas pedal. "I'll try some tricks I picked up in Japan."
"We're going to have a talk about getting a grand tourer." She lifted her eyebrow when Cam glanced her way then laughed.
"Planning to make a habit of getting chased down mountain roads, Sam?" he joked while she glared at him. The SUV was still catching up and Sam was about to tell him as she turned to find the upcoming bend right in front of them and the Mustang still barrelling along.
"Cam!" she cried in warning only for a quick motion of Cam's legs to have the Mustang kicking its back end out as he counter-steered into the tight hairpin. She yelped with wide eyes when she looked out her side window to see the SUV bearing down straight for her only for the Mustang to quickly slip around the corner. "Yes! More like that!" she ordered as he chuckled. Maybe they could get off the mountain after all. Instinct had her ducking her head when she heard shots and several bullet holes appeared in the rear window and windscreen. Cam cursed like a sailor. She could understand why, as if smashing into his car wasn't enough now they were shooting at it, mistake number one. She formed the strip and reached her hand in only to frown heavily. "Cam, where are the guns?" she asked. He turned to her with a frown of his own. "No! You didn't actually do what I told you to do, did you?" His frown didn't change. She cursed herself for telling him not to carry the contents of Selenis' armoury in the strip of light unless they were on a mission. "You took out everything?"
"Pair of CZ 85s." he said and she reached in to draw out the guns. "They're mine." She glanced at him. "And yes, I have a concealed carry permit." She laughed out loud.
"Cam, I'm not sure how the state of Colorado would rule on that when it comes to pocket dimensions." She checked that the magazine in each weapon was loaded and pulled back the slide on each, setting the safeties for condition one. "Anything else?"
"Just the big stuff." he muttered. She blinked. "No, Sam, you cannot fire a Stinger inside my car, and a Mk. 19 won't fit in the back either." She tried to imagine setting up a 40mm automatic grenade launcher in the back seat of Cam's car. Ordinarily, it would have brought a smile to her face, but right now it would actually have been nice to be able to do it. "And there's no point even thinking about the RG/BBT, it's disassembled and we'd need four Marines or one Teal'c to get it out."
"Cameron! You have a static railgun emplacement in the pocket dimension?" She gaped and stared at him in incredulous amazement. He grunted in the affirmative.
"I know they're not covered by the concealed carry permit," he joked, "but it's not as if anyone will find them on me. And remember, disassembled." He pitched the wheel around to drift them around another bend while weapons fire rained towards them, shattering the rear screen completely and the left side rear quarter-panel. "Son of a bitch!" She turned her head to try and spot the SUV, but she was never going to be able to draw a bead like this.
"Roll down your window, honey. Next corner." he said and she looked down the road, seeing the turn to the right and catching on to what he was saying. She quickly turned the handle to bring the window down and when he flicked the back end of the Mustang out she flicked the safeties on the pistols and opened up through her window, sending several shots through the SUV's windscreen and forcing the driver to juke sideways. "That's what I'm talking about. We keep this up and we'll make it off the mountain. As long as they don't have anyone else-"
"CAMERON!" she yelled in fury. He winced as he realised what he'd just done. Sure enough they began to hear the high pitched whine of a motorcycle engine. "Ass!" He held up his hand and she put one of the CZ 85s in it. With a flick of the back end and reverse wheel lock he pitched the Mustang into another drift and aimed over his left arm through his window. He grumbled when he realised he hadn't rolled it down, but looked away and fired anyway, shattering the glass. He hooked the gun's barrel on the wheel, quickly sent out his left elbow to take the window out and aimed again, firing at the SUV just as a low slung rider on a black Honda Fireblade swung out from behind it.
Cam pulled the wheel back and floored the pedal once out of the corner, but the motorcycle ate up the ground by going much more quickly through the bends. The bike started edging up alongside and Cam took the gun in his left hand and stuck it out the window to fire in the general direction of the motorcycle, forcing the rider back. He handed the now spent gun back to Sam and got ready to flick the back end out around the next bend. Sam was almost finished reloading, with a new clip she'd taken from the strip of light, when she heard the bang of one of the rear tires being shot out by the motorcycle rider who flew past the weaving Mustang as Cam desperately wrestled it for control.
"Cam!" she called as he lost the battle and the Mustang began to spin. The SUV gunned its engine and ploughed into the rear quarter-panel, bouncing the rear end of the car up and flipping it onto its roof to slide off the road into the trees. It bounced off tree trunks and rocks, spinning on the roof and tearing into the hard earth. When Sam could once again tell what was happening she was slumped down on the crumpled roof with her head and shoulders pressed painfully into broken glass and twisted metal. She reached up to her side to undo her seat belt and fell down with a cry of pain. She turned her head to see Cam hanging upside down from his seat, unconscious and with blood streaming into his hair from a cut in his forehead. He must have slammed his head against the steering wheel while they were ricocheting through the trees like a pinball. "Sweetie?" she called weakly as she saw his eyelids flutter.
"Sam?" he shook his head slightly as he groaned and turned to face in her direction. She sighed in relief and reached for his hand. "Honey, hide it." he croaked and she frowned in confusion. He grabbed her left wrist and tapped her watch. She blinked and realised what he was talking about. The barest thought had it changing into several multi-coloured twine friendship bracelets tangled together. Innocuous, worthless and hard to get off normally. "Nice." he groaned and she saw the same thing appearing on his wrist. He reached up to undo his safety belt only to find it was jammed. Before she could say anything she heard her door being pulled open with a loud keening groan of straining metal and rough hands grabbed at her legs. "Sam!"
"Cameron!" she cried as he reached for her then turned his head from side to side. He reached away and started pawing for the CZ 85 lying close to the shattered rear-view mirror. She was dragged out and lifted to her feet by a massive man in a long black leather coat. She struggled and kicked at him, but he held her tightly with her arms pressed to her chest. He must have been a Jaffa, too strong for a human. Another group of men approached with guns trained on them and Sam stilled to glare at the man in the lead. "Tergali." she muttered while stray locks of hair spilled over her eyes.
"Why, Dr. Carter, I didn't know you'd heard of me. Though your voice sounds familiar." He frowned slightly then shrugged it away. A wave of his hand had one of the men behind him approaching her with some sort of device and her eyes widened when he placed it on the outside of her left arm. She cried out as she felt it hum and pierce her skin. He raised the device away and the thin plastic sheath of her transponder fell to the ground. A second man slapped a bandage over her arm. "Take her to the car." He waved and the large Jaffa handed her off to the two men who grabbed her arms while a woman pointed a zat'nik'tel at her. Sam frowned slightly when she saw her. The woman was staring at her with wide eyes. "Stun her if she resists."
"What about the other one?" asked the motorcycle riding Jaffa.
"We don't need the Colonel. Kill him." Tergali turned around and signalled for everyone to follow him.
"Cameron!" she cried as she struggled against the men holding her while they dragged her bare feet over the hard scrabbled gouges the careening car had left in the ground. She had already lost sight of the car behind a screen of trees and bushes before she heard the shots. "NO! CAMERON!" She ripped an arm free from one man and punched the other in the face, then swung her elbow back to catch the first man in the gut. She cried out in pain when she felt the fire blossoming in her back where the zat hit her. She swayed slightly, once more in the grip of the man now clutching his bleeding, broken nose before she keeled over sideways into the dirt.
On to Chapter 6