Ripple Effect - The Other Point of View
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1, I am only playing in the world
A/N: Here is another side story / companion piece to my series of SG-1 tales. Something a little different this time.
Ripple Effect - The Other Point of View
Aliens! Cameron never thought he'd be taking part in the end of the world, but when he is chosen to lead the assault that could well liberate humanity, he never imagined it would lead him back to her.
The Goa'uld have devastated Earth, cities lie in ruin and only scattered pockets of resistance still remain. Cameron Mitchell answers the call for those willing to assault the most secret facility on the planet and take it back from the invaders, but he never imagined he'd find more than death and energy blasts and alien technology at the bottom of the mountain. He never imagined he'd find Sam Carter.
Skies above Cheyenne Mountain, August 1999 (alternate reality)
Major Cameron Mitchell grunted and strained against the extreme gee manoeuvre he was attempting to pull while trying to shake the alien fighter glued to the backside of his General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon. Alien! Capital 'A'. Capital 'Lee'. Capital 'N'. Alien. He twisted his head around to try and get a bead on the crescent shaped craft sending energy bolts sizzling past his canopy, then pulled his stick in the opposite direction and pulled back hard.
About ten days before, he'd been parking his ass at Edwards AFB while he waited for a flight back to Okinawa and the 44th FS stationed at Kadena AB. Then, as they say, all Hell broke loose. Basically, he'd just spent more than a week trying not to get his butt shot off by not quite little, not quite green, not quite men, until a general order came through for all available service personnel to make their way to Colorado Springs. Of the six planes which had left from Edwards, his was the only one left, and he was damned if he wasn't going to make sure to set her down safely on the ground again. He pulled her into a banking turn and hit the air brakes and opened his flaps as he cut the throttle to half and waited a count of five while his flight computer started screaming at him to do something before he fell out of the sky. He reset his control surfaces and throttled up again and pushed the flight stick to the left and grinned when he spotted the alien ship which had slipped past him, wide and low. He wrestled with the stick, trying to stay on the crescent winged fighter's ass while his IR targeting systems locked on to the heat signature from its engines. When the reticule on his HUD flashed red and he got continuous tone he flipped the guard and pressed the thumb trigger hard.
"Fox Two." he called for his own satisfaction as the AIM-9 Sidewinder spiralled away off his port side wing and powered up to Mach 2.5 as it streaked across the distance between him and the alien craft. It exploded just shy of the ship, vaporising a large part of its powerplant which caused a chain reaction to send the rest of the alien fighter up in fireball. Cam pulled hard right to avoid the explosion and throttled back after checking his radar for more contacts. He was breathing heavily after hours of flight and the adrenaline rush of combat in the skies over the American southwestern desert. He needed to feel dirt under his boots. Glancing down at his control board he checked his radio settings and unconsciously brought a hand up to touch his facemask. "Crystal Palace ATC, this is Gryphon Two, do you read?" He was hoping for some sign that Butts Army Airfield was going to respond.
"Gryphon Two, this is Crystal Palace ATC, we read you, over." He nearly chortled over the open radio connection and let his shoulders slump a little as he took his F-16 in a wide loop to bring him back east.
"Crystal Palace ATC, this is Gryphon Two, requesting permission to land, clearance Alpha Oscar Niner Eight Sierra Lima, over." He gave the mission codes he'd received at Edwards that should get him clearance to bring his plane down.
"Gryphon Two, permission granted, clearance for runway One Seven on easterly vector." He grinned and began manoeuvring for final approach.
"Copy that, Crystal Palace ATC, Gryphon Two vectoring for approach, runway One Seven Echo." Now to find out why so many good men and women had died on this flight. Hell... the last ten days.
The Pentagon, Washington D.C., March 1992 (alternate reality)
Captain Cameron Mitchell looked at the piece of paper in his hand again as he turned his head from side to side up one of the Pentagon's labyrinthine hallways. He frowned and gripped his cover a little more tightly as he picked a direction at random and began walking.
"Excuse me, you over there, do you have clearance to be here?" He turned at the sound of a melodious voice and found himself looking into the stern blue eyes of the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on. "This is a restricted section and I don't know you, Captain..." she trailed off as he blinked a few times while taking in the blond fringe pulled to the left over her forehead and the long ponytail hanging from the back of her head and spilling over a shoulder clad in a white lab coat over navy slacks and a pale blue blouse which peeked out of the bottom of a grey short cut v-neck jumper. She was frowning at him, but it was still... he shook his head and cleared his throat.
"Ah, yes, ma'am. Mitchell, Cameron Mitchell." He glanced down at the piece of paper and took another swallow of his suddenly dry throat. "I have orders to report to the office of General West for an interview..." he trailed off as she had with a little lift of his eyebrows. She flicked her head to the side slightly without taking her scrutinising gaze off him.
"Carter, Dr. Samantha Carter." She eyed him up and down and then took the piece of paper he proffered, his orders. She handed it back and looked up. "You should have an escort, Captain Mitchell." She looked around with a small frown and he smiled sheepishly.
"I did have one, ma'am. He was called away and left me with what now seem to be some very vague directions." he elaborated and was rewarded with a sigh and a little wry smile from the scientist, who crossed her arms under her breasts and regarded him with not a little forbearance.
"I see. Well I suppose I can take five minutes out of my day to make sure you don't get thrown in the brig for ending up somewhere you're not supposed to be." She hooked her head to the side in the opposite direction he'd been going and he fell into step alongside her as she began walking.
"Thank you kindly, ma'am." he said, only for her to turn a displeased little glare his way.
"I know it's Air Force protocol to address any lady with 'ma'am', but it makes me feel old." she grumbled and if his eyes didn't deceive him that right there was a teensy little smile. "Call me Sam, Captain, and I think we'll get along just fine."
"Only if you call me Cameron, or Cam. Either one." he replied with a grin. She smiled and nodded while walking slowly through the corridors.
"So you have an interview with the General." she began. "Do you have a technical background, Cameron?" She lifted an eyebrow when he shook his head.
"No, I'm just a fighter jockey, which is why I was a little surprised to get these orders to come meet the commanding officer of a research division." He glanced her way with an apologetic look. "No offense, Sam, but I don't know what good I could possibly do here except waste everyone's time holding test tubes and Bunsen burners." He was rewarded with a small laugh and a smile and quite possibly lost consciousness for a split-second.
"Oh, our research has nothing to do with chemistry, Cam. We're dealing with the tensor fields associated with gravimetric waves." she said with a flick of her eyes in his direction.
"I have no idea what you just said, but I love the way you said it." he replied and grinned when she smiled his way.
"Well, then perhaps I can try explaining some of the basics to you sometime? Or just let loose some more jargon your way if you'd prefer." She stopped in front of a set of wide double doors and spun slightly on her heels to face him, causing her ponytail to swing in a wide arc behind her. "Over drinks maybe?" He turned to look into her blue eyes for just a second and smiled involuntarily at the thought of spending any time at all with her.
"I'd like that very much." he replied and she smiled, reaching into her coat pocket and producing a business card on which she scribbled another number with a pen she took from her top pocket.
"I hope you get the job, Cam. Call me either way though." she left him with one lingering smile which caused another miniature fugue state.
Butts AAF, Fort Carson, August 1999 (alternate reality)
He knocked on the open door leading off the haphazardly arranged command center and walked in when the man behind the desk looked up and raised his bushy eyebrows questioningly.
"Major Cameron Mitchell reporting as ordered, sir." he said as he came to attention in front of the Major General in the leather bomber jacket. He waited until the man stood up and came around the desk and offered his hand.
"At ease, Major. The name's Landry. I see you flew in from Edwards today, took out a bunch of gliders on the way as well." he said as Cam widened his stance and clasped his hands behind his back after shaking the older man's proffered hand. He gave the General a small look as he clenched his jaw.
"Yes, sir, though I lost the rest of my flight." he added in a low voice. Landry nodded gravely and moved to sit back down behind his desk.
"Yes, we've lost a lot of good people in the last several days, Mitchell, which is why today you're going to hate me just that little bit more." he said while leaning back in the chair and opening a drawer to rummage around for a few moments before tossing a pair of silver pins onto the top of the desk. Eagles. Cam stared at them dumbfounded. "Congratulations, Colonel."
"Sir, I'm just a Major-"
"Didn't you hear what I just said, Colonel?" Landry asked in a stern voice and Cam clacked his teeth shut. "I'm not doing this for your benefit, Mitchell, believe me. I'm doing this for mine! I need to make sure I have a clear chain-of-command for this mission and you're it!" he declared with a finger pointed at Cam's chest. "When we go in there I don't want to have to deal with who's on first and who's on second. I want everyone clear on who's in charge." Landry glared at him hard enough that he could feel it in his spine. "So you gotta make it to the bottom of that mountain alive, are we clear, Colonel?"
"Crystal, sir." he replied, not quite sure what just happened.
"Now, get out of that flightsuit, it's got the wrong rank insignia." Landry ordered and waved him away. Cam picked up the pins on the table and came to attention before turning on his heels and walking out, only to have several file folders shoved at him by a waiting Staff Sergeant.
O'Reardon's Pub, Washington D.C., September 1993 (alternate reality)
"Cameron? What's wrong, sweetie?" Sam's soft voice pierced the veil surrounding him as he looked up and met her worried gaze. He looked around the bar and frowned. Why had he asked her to meet him here? He picked up the glass of bourbon and looked at the dark amber liquid before putting it back down on the table. Sam put her hand over his and he tensed slightly before letting out a sigh and turning his hand so her fingers slipped into his palm and he closed his own over them.
"Let's get out of here, Sam, I can't do this here." he whispered, she frowned slightly, but stood up when he did and held his hand as he walked in between the tables and out the door. He flagged down a yellow cab and helped an increasingly worried Sam into the back seat before walking around to the driver's side and mumbling a destination to the cabbie then getting in himself.
"Cam? Where are we going?" she asked gently as he slid in beside her and held his face in his hands. He turned his head slightly and peeked at her beautiful blue eyes for a moment before screwing his eyes shut and grimacing. She pulled his hands away from his face and then cupped his cheeks in her hands. "Cameron, honey, talk to me. Please." she pleaded and he let his head drop against her shoulder and sighed when she just stroked the hair at the back of his head.
A while later, the cab stopped and they got out only a short walk from the Lincoln Memorial. He didn't come to Washington often, but when he did he liked to visit the reflecting pool between the Memorial and the Washington Monument. It eased his mind. He took Sam's hand and pulled her along the path which led around the Memorial to the steps which sloped down to the long rectangular stretch of water at its foot. He stood watching the wind whipping at the surface of the water and closed his eyes while Sam squeezed his hand tightly. He felt her other hand touch his jaw and turn him to face her. He opened his eyes and there was a hint of steel in hers. She was so strong. "Talk to me, Cameron." she ordered. And he did, telling her everything, telling her what he'd done, what he'd become. He recited it all in a long broken rambling monotone as tears rolled down her cheeks and she bit her lip and stroked his face without once looking away from him.
"I'm sorry, Sam. I'm so sorry." he breathed as the shudders finally overtook his shoulders and she pulled him into her arms and held him tightly. "I can't do this, I can't be who I was anymore, what I wanted to be..." She pulled back and put her hand on his cheek, pulling his head up so he'd look into her eyes.
"Listen to me, Cameron Mitchell." she began in a fiery voice. "You are an Air Force officer. You are the epitome of Honour and Strength and you're the best man I've ever met. Do you understand me? You are not allowed to say those things." By the time she'd finished she was crying harder than ever, stroking his cheek gently and sobbing until he pulled her to him in his own need to comfort and protect her.
"Yes, ma'am." he whispered.
Butts AAF, Fort Carson, August 1999 (alternate reality)
"That's the situation, people." said Landry from the head of the briefing room as he pointed at a map of the underground levels of Cheyenne Mountain, the underground levels under the underground levels of NORAD, the levels which Cam had never heard of before yesterday. "Your primary objective will be to retake the Embarkation Room and the Control Room on sublevel 28." The General pointed at a small area on the board behind him. "Secondary objectives are the armouries here, here and here," he pointed at three locations in turn, "and Auxiliary Control on sublevel sixteen should be used as a staging area if possible, but don't hang around." He pointed at the last location before bringing his hands to rest on the podium again. "Finally, you will attempt to make contact with any possible survivors. The ranking officers at the facility should be one Major General George Hammond and a Major Charles Kawalsky, from what I understand the rest are dead. Also, the lead scientist Dr. Sam O'Neill is the head civilian at the base and is a top priority subject. Any questions?" He looked around the room and everyone's hands shot up. "Except that one." Landry added and all the hands came back down. "Very good, see Colonel Mitchell for squad assignments and chain-of-command structure. Make it happen, people." Everyone stood to attention as the Major General left the room and Cam turned to them in his stead with further orders and mission details.
Six hours later, as dawn approached, he was standing at the top of an access shaft after hiking through half a mile of forest from where the trucks had dropped off him and his squads. Three similar convoys were still en route to three other locations and he was waiting for signals from the other team leaders before getting his men to climb down the long shaft on several sets of rappelling ropes they'd set up around the raised steel hatch.
"Sierra Golf One Niner, this is Sierra Golf Three Niner, in position." Cam sighed in relief, that was the last team he was waiting for.
"Acknowledged, SG-3. Radio silence and go on my mark." He signalled the men waiting to blow the latch pins on the shaft. "Mark." Several dull bursts sounded and the men quickly lifted the hatch cover and threw the unattached ends of their climbing ropes down the dark shaft. Cam signalled silently to his teams to proceed and raised his HK MP5K to scan the trees around him until it was his turn to go down.
Once at the bottom of the shaft he checked with his sapper again who nodded his readiness to blow the interior door. He hit a double tap on his radio and waited for three similar sets of pops in response before holding up three fingers and pulling one down every second before hitting another double tap on the radio. He heard another set of explosions from the door and his point team lifted and pushed the heavy steel door off its frame bolts and into the complex itself. There were bodies shoved up against the walls in several places and blast damage of various kinds dotted the walls and floors. The ceilings had collapsed in a couple of corridors as well, and the lights were almost completely gone, backup spots which flickered intermittently and the sparks from overloaded power junctions provided the only illumination. They covered each end of the corridor and spilled out into the space until they could see around the corners and spotted a group of the alien foot soldiers approaching. They spent the next twenty minutes in run and gun battles as they secured sublevel 16 and AuxCon and proceeded further down one level at a time, taking armouries and replenishing their supplies as they went.
Cam was getting slightly dizzy as he moved forward down the corridors with several men behind him keeping an eye out for any more of the aliens. It was all a blur to him, he was having trouble believing what was happening at any rate. After securing sublevel 26 he halted the teams still with him at the entrance to the access shaft leading down to sublevel 27. There were several access points to the level below that, including the briefing room, so this would be the key level for them to take. He gave his teams several hand signals, giving them specific missions and targets based on their briefings at Butts then gave a go which saw the men under his command rushing down the shaft and spilling out into another corridor.
When Cam got out and opened fire on an alien shooting energy blasts from around a corner he was slightly surprised to say the least when the large silver-clad warrior vanished in a shimmer of white light. He blinked and held up a closed fist and then signalled for two men to follow him as he tried to figure out what was going on. He moved slowly through the corridors which were now eerily quiet, well, quiet except for the sparking and flickering of the lights and the occasional clang of some bit of ruined metal collapsing in the distance. He heard no more of that alien hollering or the distinctive sounds of their weapons fire. He grimaced and picked his way into the briefing room and down the stairs to the control room.
Kadena AB, Okinawa, December 1997 (alternate reality)
Major Cameron Mitchell stared at the wall blankly as he held the phone against his shoulder. He sat with his feet propped up behind the desk in his office with a report file propped open in his hands. He blinked and looked out the glass partition to see his 2IC, Captain Alonso Nash, laying out some assignments for the flight's upcoming patrol over to the Korean peninsula.
"Cam, did you hear what I said?" asked the voice of the woman he loved more than life itself. A woman he'd thought he'd one day spend the rest of his life with. A woman he'd had to let go when their careers took them to opposite sides of the globe and even further down the well of military secrecy. A woman who'd just told him she was going to get married to another man.
"Ah, yeah, Sam, I did." he replied despite a throat quickly tightening in shock. "Congratulations." he whispered at last as his eyes closed and his jaw clenched. He tossed the report aside and let his feet drop to the floor as he leaned forward over his desk with a hand covering his eyes and the other holding the phone against the side of his head. "I'm happy for you." he managed to force out.
"Thank you, Cam. I was hoping, maybe that you'd... I mean... it won't be for a while yet, a few months... I understand if you don't think... if you can't get the time off..." Sam fumbled awkwardly with her invitation and Cam tried very hard not to let the lump building up in his throat get out and make things worse for her.
"I'll see what I can do... when you know... when you decide..." He heard a faint rustling from the other end of the line and frowned slightly in confusion because it sounded like faint sobbing. "Sam, are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, Cam." she breathed and he heard the phone being pressed against something soft, her cardigan? He waited for several long moments until he heard more rustling and she returned to the line. "I'll let you know closer to the date."
"Sam... if you need anything... anytime..." he trailed off.
"I know, Cam. I'll talk to you soon." came her soft reply before she whispered a good bye and hung up. He looked at the receiver in his hand for a moment and just let it drop onto the desk before he leaned back in his chair and covered his face in his hands. He'd run out of time.
Stargate Authority, August 1999 (alternate reality)
He slowly picked his way down the stairs into a very empty Control Room. He frowned heavily and gazed out the broken glass of the blast screens onto the large alien ring held aloft by red clamps from overhead above a metal ramp in the Embarkation Room. He looked around and spotted the exit leading off to the corridor and took the short flight of stairs down with his two shadows following behind him. He waved them in the direction of the security door on their left and motioned for them to secure both exits of the 'gate room before proceeding down the corridor in the other direction. He could hear faint voices and moved cautiously around several corners to what should be a short corridor with storerooms on either side. He furrowed his brow and peeked around the corner only to blink in relief as he spotted honest to goodness humans, two men, looking into a room at the end. He didn't lower his MP5, however.
"Sorry to trouble you, but would one of you happen to be General Hammond." he asked with his gun pointed straight at them. The younger man spun around, but froze with his large calibre machine gun pointing into the air when he saw Cam had a bead on him.
"That would be me, son. Care to identify yourself and tell me what you're doing in my base?" replied the older man wearing a black t-shirt.
"Colonel Cameron Mitchell, sir. I came to retake the base, but the damnedest thing happened while I was shooting at some aliens." He lowered his gun slightly and the other man, who had to be Major Kawalsky, did the same, being careful to point it away from Cam. "Can I take it the base is secure, sir? And you know what's going on?" The older man nodded and Cam raised up his radio and triple tapped the button. "Sierra Golf One Niner to all Sierra Golf teams. Primary Objective secured, lock down Secondary Objectives and open comms to Sierra Golf Omega as soon as possible." He received several acknowledgements as he lowered his gun all the way and walked forward. "Sorry for this, sir, I have orders from Major General Landry to secure all surviving personnel, I was given to understand that would be yourself, Major Kawalsky," he nodded at the other man who had let his gun slide back behind him, "and a civilian scientist, a Dr. O'Neill? Is he still alive?"
"She's alive." came a melodious voice from behind the door of the room the men had been looking into and Cam's eyes went wide and the blood froze in his veins as his muscles stopped working. She stepped out from behind the grey painted metal door and met his gaze with her own tear-stained eyes as she bit her bottom lip, her golden hair falling over the lavender cardigan and shirt she wore over dark slacks. "But it's still Dr. Carter. I didn't take my husband's name. It helps when searching for my scientific writings."
"Sam?" he breathed in a broken voice as he blinked rapidly. "You were here?" She nodded slowly as the other two men looked between them both.
"I take it you know each other?" General Hammond asked as he stepped aside to allow Sam further into the corridor. He nodded stupidly without taking his eyes off her.
"I was sure you were already dead, Cameron." she whispered as she held a hand up to her wet cheeks and started crying once more. He was instantly on the move, even before Kawalsky could react he had Sam in his arms and was holding her tightly as she clutched at the back of his tac vest. "It's good to see you." she breathed.