Fic: Not Enough Time
Title: Not Enough Time
Characters: Samantha & Team
Prompt: Years
Word Count: 1,498
Rating: Work Safe/G
Summary: Samantha is trying to figure out how to get out of the time dilation bubble she created.
Author's Notes: Taken from the years that passed during S10E20
Sam looks at the computer screen. ‘If only one of these simulations would work,’ she thinks. ‘If one worked, we could get off this ship and all these years wouldn’t be in vain.’ The screen flashes “failed attempt” across the simulated ship as it explodes again. ‘How many times will I sit here and see this ship, our lifeboat be blown up.’ Her head rest on her hand as she starts the next simulation, another failure. Her eyes close, tired from each failure. Over the years she has watched countless ways of defeat. She’s sick of it now. The years that have gone by have proved that with enough time she can figure out almost anything. And yet, now that she has that time it has proved to be their undoing.
Sam looks at her clock, ‘it’s late’ she mutters. ‘I’ll tell them tomorrow. I still have a few more simulations to run, maybe one of them,’ she gathers her notes and carries them with her as she slowly ambles to her room. Unfortunately she doesn’t move as quickly as she used to. Even if she finds a way out of this mess how is she going to explain her aging to Cassie? At least with O’Neill she can joke with him, ‘now I’m the same age as you.’ She smiles; she’s lived a whole life without O’Neill how on earth did she survive. Rounding the corner into her room she sees the cello that she replicated so many years ago. After all those years she is quite proficient at it now. The memory of McKay popped into her head which didn’t bring a smile to her face. McKay had once told her that he played the piano. He stopped when his teacher told him he was ‘proficient’ but had no soul. Afterward he elaborated to her, ‘you have soul, and by that I mean you’re artistic, creative even, when it comes to science.’ Sam dropped her paperwork onto the bed and walked to her cello. It was the only thing that she truly loved in this ship. It allowed her for an hour or two each day to completely forget how much she has let the team down. Sitting she looks it over, as if reacquainting herself with an old friend. Her left hand for so many years had been soft with very little wear and tear for the life of an Air Force officer. It now has calluses on each finger that proves she can play the cello.
Her bow glides across each string as the vibrations tell her ears that the strings are in tune. After years of practicing, now her fingers move with the same efficiency as keystrokes to a keyboard. Sam thought of all the nights she has sat here, in this very position removing the stress of everyday disappointment. The bow quickened her fingers caught up shedding the last two simulations to the floor. With every movement Sam’s mind fell further away from the impending disaster that she could not stop. The song ended. Sam breathed a heavy sigh of relief. This was her opportunity everyday to cease worrying about the years that have passed. However, Sam could not shake her worries today. With only a few more options all her simulations, calculations and ‘artistic’ burst of ideas have failed. On top of that too, she has to tell her team. Her team, her team of almost sixty years now, Sam has to tell them that there are no options. Ironically, she has fixed the problem but she can’t figure out how to squeeze the remaining extra minutes to revert and save the ship. Laying the cello on its side she goes back to her notes that lay a strewn on the bed. There are no more calculations to do. Sam has done them all. She drifted in and out of possibilities as she lay on the bed. Possibilities that had all been answered through years of simulations, still Sam dwelled on them. Maybe she could find a mistake or at least that’s what she keeps telling herself.
The alarm sounded and Sam rose to yet another dark day. But unlike other days that were filled with hope that she might find a way off this ship, today a grim feeling took over her thoughts. She only had a few more simulations to run and then she would have to break the news. Sam knew they wouldn’t miss her for breakfast. The past few weeks she had been working through them. Understandably, they thought nothing of it. Today though, she felt she couldn’t face them. After all with Landry being gone and now this Sam can’t see a way to break it gently enough.
The last simulations had run their course. “Still not enough power,” Samantha muttered under her breath. It was time. She dreaded it but it was time to tell her team. Sam walked out of the office with the weight of the world on her shoulders. All the way down the hall she rehearsed how she would tell them, her friends, her family, her team. The food replicated too rapidly. Sam walked into the commissary with all the gusto of a nerd at a football game.
“When I said I wanted to get the Team back together, work with you guys…learn from you…*sits* I did not mean every waking moment for the next 50 years.” Mitchell said as he sat down. Sam rolled her eyes.
“You said that yesterday,” Jackson reminded Mitchell
“I did?”
Teal’c without raising an eyebrow to Daniel’s statement exhaust with Mitchell’s humor said, “And the day before”
“And the day before that,” Vala continued.
“Oh… sorry…I'll just shut up now” Mitchell looked down at his replicated food.
“No I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything.” Daniel apologized as he shook his head. He felt sorry for Mitchell, out of all of them, Mitchell has not taken this well.
Carter looks at her team. She fidgets with the fork in front of her, “I did it”
Cameron looks around excitedly, but no one else took any notice of her statement. “You did what??” He asks excitedly
“I figured out how to reverse time in a localized field.” Samantha looks down, knowing more questions will come and only bad news will follow.
Vala drops her spoon; Teal'c holds his tea bag in mid-air, while Daniel and Cameron stare at Carter.
“What?” Daniel’s eyes focus on Samantha. She nods in agreement. Her lips press together, she doesn’t want to explain anymore, but Vala asks the 100,000 dollar question.
“What's the matter?”
“Maintaining the time dilation field for all this time has almost completely depleted the ZPM and the power source in the Asgard core” She pauses as Cameron looks puzzled.
“We don't have enough power to make it work,” he spouts
“mmm…there's irony for ya huh?” Samantha tries to avoid everyone’s eyes. Mitchell stands up in discust. Not for Samantha but for the situation. He walks to the window looking at the now immanent Ori beam. Teal’c fiddles with his tea bag as Vala stares at Daniel while Daniel stares blankly down at his food. “I create the field to buy us more time, I finally figure out how to undo it all and that extra time is what makes it impossible.”
“Are you sure? I mean if you had some more time…could you” Daniel’s brow is creased. Samantha looks at Daniel and shakes her head
“I’m sure”
Cameron is still staring out the window when he asks, “hey Sam…yo-you remember when we were…stuck out of phase.”
“Which time?”
“Wh-when you got shot…and you thought you were gonna die and the Ori were gonna destroy that village”
Samantha winced, “Vaguely.”
“Yeah…you had me use the power source from an Ori staff weapon to power Merlin's device.”
“We don't have anything even close to a power source that would be required to keep a reverse time field working for long enough” She replies.
Cameron looks back out the window, “Really?” His words are more of a statement rather than a question. Mitchell pivots and walks to Samantha, “Come with me” Samantha puts her hand in his, as he walks her over to the window, pointing to the Ori beam he asks, “what about that?”
“That?...there's no way tha-,” Samantha does a double take. The cogs in her brain start to turn as the ideas start to come together. ‘It could work’ she thinks.
Disclaimer: All publicity recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This series may include script excerpts from the TV Series ‘Stargate SG-1.’ This fan fiction was created for entertainment, not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks are intended. The situations and story are the property of said author, Surferartchick 2008©.
Characters: Samantha & Team
Prompt: Years
Word Count: 1,498
Rating: Work Safe/G
Summary: Samantha is trying to figure out how to get out of the time dilation bubble she created.
Author's Notes: Taken from the years that passed during S10E20
Sam looks at the computer screen. ‘If only one of these simulations would work,’ she thinks. ‘If one worked, we could get off this ship and all these years wouldn’t be in vain.’ The screen flashes “failed attempt” across the simulated ship as it explodes again. ‘How many times will I sit here and see this ship, our lifeboat be blown up.’ Her head rest on her hand as she starts the next simulation, another failure. Her eyes close, tired from each failure. Over the years she has watched countless ways of defeat. She’s sick of it now. The years that have gone by have proved that with enough time she can figure out almost anything. And yet, now that she has that time it has proved to be their undoing.
Sam looks at her clock, ‘it’s late’ she mutters. ‘I’ll tell them tomorrow. I still have a few more simulations to run, maybe one of them,’ she gathers her notes and carries them with her as she slowly ambles to her room. Unfortunately she doesn’t move as quickly as she used to. Even if she finds a way out of this mess how is she going to explain her aging to Cassie? At least with O’Neill she can joke with him, ‘now I’m the same age as you.’ She smiles; she’s lived a whole life without O’Neill how on earth did she survive. Rounding the corner into her room she sees the cello that she replicated so many years ago. After all those years she is quite proficient at it now. The memory of McKay popped into her head which didn’t bring a smile to her face. McKay had once told her that he played the piano. He stopped when his teacher told him he was ‘proficient’ but had no soul. Afterward he elaborated to her, ‘you have soul, and by that I mean you’re artistic, creative even, when it comes to science.’ Sam dropped her paperwork onto the bed and walked to her cello. It was the only thing that she truly loved in this ship. It allowed her for an hour or two each day to completely forget how much she has let the team down. Sitting she looks it over, as if reacquainting herself with an old friend. Her left hand for so many years had been soft with very little wear and tear for the life of an Air Force officer. It now has calluses on each finger that proves she can play the cello.
Her bow glides across each string as the vibrations tell her ears that the strings are in tune. After years of practicing, now her fingers move with the same efficiency as keystrokes to a keyboard. Sam thought of all the nights she has sat here, in this very position removing the stress of everyday disappointment. The bow quickened her fingers caught up shedding the last two simulations to the floor. With every movement Sam’s mind fell further away from the impending disaster that she could not stop. The song ended. Sam breathed a heavy sigh of relief. This was her opportunity everyday to cease worrying about the years that have passed. However, Sam could not shake her worries today. With only a few more options all her simulations, calculations and ‘artistic’ burst of ideas have failed. On top of that too, she has to tell her team. Her team, her team of almost sixty years now, Sam has to tell them that there are no options. Ironically, she has fixed the problem but she can’t figure out how to squeeze the remaining extra minutes to revert and save the ship. Laying the cello on its side she goes back to her notes that lay a strewn on the bed. There are no more calculations to do. Sam has done them all. She drifted in and out of possibilities as she lay on the bed. Possibilities that had all been answered through years of simulations, still Sam dwelled on them. Maybe she could find a mistake or at least that’s what she keeps telling herself.
The alarm sounded and Sam rose to yet another dark day. But unlike other days that were filled with hope that she might find a way off this ship, today a grim feeling took over her thoughts. She only had a few more simulations to run and then she would have to break the news. Sam knew they wouldn’t miss her for breakfast. The past few weeks she had been working through them. Understandably, they thought nothing of it. Today though, she felt she couldn’t face them. After all with Landry being gone and now this Sam can’t see a way to break it gently enough.
The last simulations had run their course. “Still not enough power,” Samantha muttered under her breath. It was time. She dreaded it but it was time to tell her team. Sam walked out of the office with the weight of the world on her shoulders. All the way down the hall she rehearsed how she would tell them, her friends, her family, her team. The food replicated too rapidly. Sam walked into the commissary with all the gusto of a nerd at a football game.
“When I said I wanted to get the Team back together, work with you guys…learn from you…*sits* I did not mean every waking moment for the next 50 years.” Mitchell said as he sat down. Sam rolled her eyes.
“You said that yesterday,” Jackson reminded Mitchell
“I did?”
Teal’c without raising an eyebrow to Daniel’s statement exhaust with Mitchell’s humor said, “And the day before”
“And the day before that,” Vala continued.
“Oh… sorry…I'll just shut up now” Mitchell looked down at his replicated food.
“No I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything.” Daniel apologized as he shook his head. He felt sorry for Mitchell, out of all of them, Mitchell has not taken this well.
Carter looks at her team. She fidgets with the fork in front of her, “I did it”
Cameron looks around excitedly, but no one else took any notice of her statement. “You did what??” He asks excitedly
“I figured out how to reverse time in a localized field.” Samantha looks down, knowing more questions will come and only bad news will follow.
Vala drops her spoon; Teal'c holds his tea bag in mid-air, while Daniel and Cameron stare at Carter.
“What?” Daniel’s eyes focus on Samantha. She nods in agreement. Her lips press together, she doesn’t want to explain anymore, but Vala asks the 100,000 dollar question.
“What's the matter?”
“Maintaining the time dilation field for all this time has almost completely depleted the ZPM and the power source in the Asgard core” She pauses as Cameron looks puzzled.
“We don't have enough power to make it work,” he spouts
“mmm…there's irony for ya huh?” Samantha tries to avoid everyone’s eyes. Mitchell stands up in discust. Not for Samantha but for the situation. He walks to the window looking at the now immanent Ori beam. Teal’c fiddles with his tea bag as Vala stares at Daniel while Daniel stares blankly down at his food. “I create the field to buy us more time, I finally figure out how to undo it all and that extra time is what makes it impossible.”
“Are you sure? I mean if you had some more time…could you” Daniel’s brow is creased. Samantha looks at Daniel and shakes her head
“I’m sure”
Cameron is still staring out the window when he asks, “hey Sam…yo-you remember when we were…stuck out of phase.”
“Which time?”
“Wh-when you got shot…and you thought you were gonna die and the Ori were gonna destroy that village”
Samantha winced, “Vaguely.”
“Yeah…you had me use the power source from an Ori staff weapon to power Merlin's device.”
“We don't have anything even close to a power source that would be required to keep a reverse time field working for long enough” She replies.
Cameron looks back out the window, “Really?” His words are more of a statement rather than a question. Mitchell pivots and walks to Samantha, “Come with me” Samantha puts her hand in his, as he walks her over to the window, pointing to the Ori beam he asks, “what about that?”
“That?...there's no way tha-,” Samantha does a double take. The cogs in her brain start to turn as the ideas start to come together. ‘It could work’ she thinks.
Disclaimer: All publicity recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This series may include script excerpts from the TV Series ‘Stargate SG-1.’ This fan fiction was created for entertainment, not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks are intended. The situations and story are the property of said author, Surferartchick 2008©.