SCIFIBIGBANG: Wrapped in an Enigma Part Two

[alexs_storybook]

Part Two

~~~~~

CHAPTER 11

When word got to Jack about what had happened to Samantha, his only comment was “They what? How the hell could they lose Carter?”

The Nox could do things Jack had never seen anyone else do but even they could not conjure young Jonathan out of thin air and now this.

“Can you get me back home? I… I need to be there.”

Lya nodded and together with Teal’c, they walked to the Gate. She waved her hand and the Stargate opened.

“We will keep monitoring the area, O’Neill. We will help you find your loved ones.” She smiled her mysterious smiled and nodded to him to go before he had a chance to open his mouth.

Landry, SG-1 and Maybourne were waiting in the Gateroom when they got back to Cheyenne Mountain.

“How the hell did you lose Carter?” He shouted at Col. Mitchell as soon he was through.

“We didn’t exactly lose her. They took her.”

“And what the hell is Harry Maybourne doing here?” Jack yelled at Landry.

“Hi, Jack.” Harry grinned and made a small wave. Jack moved toward him. Harry held up a hand. “Now, Jack, I’ve come to help find Carter.”

“In exchange for what?”

“I haven’t decided yet. A tractor and some fuel would be nice for my farmers.”

Jack just growled and stepped toward Maybourne.

Landry stepped in. “Harry is here to help us find a device that he says exists in Area 51 that will tell us where they took Sam by tracing the addresses in the DHD from where Sam was abducted.”

“Area 51 was shut down a couple of years ago. Budget cuts.” Jack stated almost petulantly.

“So was Cheyenne Mountain but we’re still here. You know Area 51 is still operating.” Landry was being conciliatory. “Sir,” he added, remembering that Jack was actually his superior.

“We’ll find them, Jack,” Daniel spoke. “We always do.”

“Daniel Jackson is right, General O’Neill,” Teal’c reminded him. “We do indeed always find them.”

*

Sam Carter looked around the small room they’d placed her in. It was dark and windowless. They’d taken her weapon but she still had her pack. She took out her flashlight and looked around. Nothing but boxes and crates. It appeared to be some sort of storeroom.

She’d seen little of the planet when they’d gotten here. They made a jump to what appeared to be Harry Maybourne’s planet first then here. The temperature was warm, like a summer day on earth but that was about all she knew since they’d blindfolded her when they made their unexplained pit stop.

She wondered if this was where they held the child.

“Hello?” She called out and stopped dead in her tracks.

“Who are you?” It was a little boy’s voice from the other side of the wall.

“My name is Samantha. Are you Jonathan?”

“Yes. Where is my mama?”

“She is safe at home and she is waiting for you.”

“The men… they said they’d hurt her if I cried but they need not have worried. I am a big boy and big boys don’t cry.”

“You’re very brave.”

“My mama said I take after my Papa. His name is Jack O’Neill and he is very brave. She told me how to find him through the Stargate if anything ever happened to her. She even gave me a little machine with some numbers to push so Papa’s friends would know it’s me.”

“I know your Papa and he is very brave. He and his friends are trying to find us right now.”

“I wish they’d hurry. Mama will be crying and I don’t like it when Mama cries.”

“Maybe we can watch out for one another until your Papa gets here to help us.”

“I suppose so. It’s about time for food. It isn’t very good sometimes but I eat it anyway.”

“That’s a good idea. You remind me of your papa.”

“I hear them coming. We should be quiet.”

“Yes,” Sam whispered back. Jonathan was very intelligent and very brave for one so young. He was indeed a lot like Jack. That made her smile a small smile.

*

Harry Maybourne, Daniel, Cam and Vala were on their way to Area 51 in a small nondescript plane.

The clock was ticking.

“Tell me, Mr. Maybourne, how did you get your own planet?” Vala was speaking in her low, seductive Vala voice. Daniel just shook his head.

“Well, the Tok’ra put me on a planet, the natives made me king and the rest is history, as they say.”

“Do you have a queen?”

“Nope. I have several wives but I haven’t found the need to make any of them queen. It would just sow the seeds of discontent.”

“But a queen could rule in your stead.”

“Until today, I’ve always been there. They’ll do fine without me.”

Vala gave up with a ‘humphhh’ and Cam grinned at Daniel. “Remember when you were a Goa’uld, Vala. That didn’t work out so well for you,” Cam reminded her.

“It did until they found out that I wasn’t a god! Whose fault was that?” She tapped Daniel’s chest.

“Yours!” Both men said at once.

They were shown into the compound by someone that Maybourne obviously knew. Without a word, he led them through several corridors and locked doors to a small room. Daniel had been here before with Samantha, hunting for Goa’uld hand devices but the place was new to the rest of SG-1.

Maybourne rifled through several drawers and looked on several shelves until he found what he seemed to be looking for. It looked quite like a calculator or cell phone but the characters on the face were not numbers nor were they in English.

“Recognize the writing?” He turned to Daniel.

“Ancient.”

“Can you read it?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Well, all you have to do is plug it into the DHD and it will tell you the last seven places the Gate has dialed.”

“Well, we’d better check your Gate before it gets used too much then. Let’s go.” Cam had seen enough. He was ready to get Samantha and the little boy back.

They were back at the SGC before most people knew they’d been gone.

*

“Are you still there?” The voice was low but Sam heard it just the same.

“I’m still here.”

“Did you get food?”

Sam smiled. “Yes. Even got some cake. Did you?”

“It wasn’t as good as Mama’s but it was good.”

“Your father loves cake better than anything.”

“Me too.” She could tell he was smiling as he said it.

“Time to get some rest. My friends will be here soon to take us home.”

“Goodnight, Samantha.”

“Sleep well, Jonathan O’Neill, sleep well."

~~~~

CHAPTER 12

SG-1 hastened back to Maybourne’s planet with their treasure. As soon as the Gate closed, Daniel and Cam hooked the little machine up to the DHD. It hummed and buzzed and displayed several sets of symbols, only a few of them readily known to Daniel. There was earth, the planet where Sam had been kidnapped, and several unknowns.

“So what do we do? Randomly go to each planet? They could be laying in ambush for us.” Cam was practical but it was obvious to everyone he was willing to go in blind to rescue his teammate and friend, not to mention the child, who had to be awfully frightened by now.

“I think we head back to earth to find out what Landry and Jack want us to do then go find our people,” Daniel said. He feared for Sam and the child too but he also feared for Jack. Jack was strong but he wasn’t sure he could lose another son and Sam too.

*

Jack and Laira were sitting at her kitchen table drinking tea laced with that potent homebrewed concoction that Paynan had shared with Jack when he was there years before. It was a bit less biting when sipped in tea.

“I’m sorry I never came back. I meant to.” Jack felt guilty but still, he’d been so happy to go home too.

Laira laid her hand over his. “I never asked you to stay. If they’d never come for you, we might have been happy together, but since they did, I knew you’d always be thinking of your team and Earth.”

“I just wish you’d told me about Jonathan.”

“I didn’t want him to be the reason you stayed either. I knew that someday I’d tell you but I didn’t want you to stay with us out of obligation. This way, you can never hold a grudge toward him over what might have been.”

Jack didn’t have an answer so Laira continued.

“Besides, it’s not me that you love. You love Samantha. And she loves you too. Anyone can see that.”

Jack guffawed. “Are you sure about that?” He knew Sam cared for him but he wasn’t sure it was love. He knew he loved her.

“Of course I am but you are bound to your duty and I suspect she is too.”

Jack didn’t know what to say so he nodded.

“Don’t wait too long, Jack. Don’t wait too long.” She patted his hand and got up. “More tea?”

He nodded and she poured them both another cup. And they waited.

*

“Samantha?”

Jonathan’s voice woke her.

“Yeah. I’m still here.”

“Good morning. He’ll bring food soon and sometimes he takes me out for a walk.”

“Do you know what they look like?”

“No. He wears a cap that covers his face. But he lets me play with some puppies sometimes. There are four puppies and they love to run and play.”

Sam smiled. At least no one was mean to the boy. It actually sounded as if the kidnapper was going out of his way to be nice to him. How odd.

Sam didn’t expect that he’d let her out to frolic or play though. She pretty much expected her food put through the slot and the chamber pot emptied once in awhile.

She was surprised though. A masked man came into her room. “Time to go to the bathroom and stretch those legs, Col Carter.” He was the same man who had taken her originally. “And don’t try to run away. There’s nowhere to go. The gate is guarded.”

She nodded and stumbled out into the sunlight.

And saw Jonathan O’Neill.

He was a tiny replica of his father. He was tall for his age and a bit on the slender side. His eyes were as dark as night, just like Jack’s. The smile he gave her when he saw her was all Jack too. Her heart melted.

“Sam!” He turned to his captors. “Can I walk with Sam today?”

The man nodded and he held his hand to her. She smiled and took it.

They walked around a forest path and then went to a barn. Four tan puppies came bounding out to Jonathan and he fell to the ground giggling, then scooping each one up and kissing its wet little nose. The puppies were as happy as he was. He handed Sam one of the wiggly bundles and she took it, smiling back at him.

“Don’t let it wet you. They’re too little to know better.” Jonathan spoke as if he had been tending puppies for years. Perhaps he had at home though she didn’t remember there being dogs on Edora.

They were allowed to play until the pups became tired, then Sam and Jonathan were led away as another man herded the puppies back to their mother in the barn. The other man was masked too. Perhaps he was the one who had joined them on the second place they gated to.

Sam thought this was a very odd way to treat captives but she wasn’t going to argue.

*

Landry sat in the conference room with SG-1, including Teal’c. Jack had left him there in his stead since he was still staying with Laira on Edora.

“You don’t usually consult me before running off to chase information.” Hank Landry raised an eyebrow at them. “Why choose now to start?”

“This is Sam. And a child. We can’t take any chances,” Daniel spoke up with Cam and Vala nodding their agreement. For some reason they didn’t quite get, Harry Maybourne had come back with them too.

“So go to the Stargate addresses. We’ll send some extra Marines with you for backup. Go in armed and ready.”

Within half an hour, they were ready to go. Six Marines were in their party as protection. The planet they went to from Harry’s was bitterly cold but not uninhabitable. They explored for about an hour before Cam called it off. Daniel hooked their little machine up to the Gate and it showed only one visit besides theirs, one from and back to Harry’s planet.

They returned to Harry’s planet and checked that Gate again. It had another address. Daniel thought that odd but said nothing. Didn’t Harry guard the Gate at all times? He had thought so but maybe not.

Cam stood beside him and spoke in a low voice. “Something odd is going on here and I don’t like it.”

“Me either but I don’t see what choice we have,” Daniel said as he dialed the next Stargate address.

~~~~~

CHAPTER 13

The world that SG-1 gated to next was much like their own, which is exactly as they expected. They were greeted this time by several men armed with bows but armed nonetheless.

“Who are you?” The tall man who appeared to be the leader asked in a language that was a mixture of Ancient and a Goa’uld dialect.

Daniel understood him well enough and answered him. “We come in peace. We are searching for one of our own and a small boy and we used a machine that told us that someone had dialed to this Gate from the last world we know they were on.”

The man was human, much like humans of earth, if not exactly. He wore clothing that appeared to be similar to Native American dress of the nineteenth century and the weapons that they all carried were similar to that time period on Earth also.

“We know nothing of strangers coming through the Gate until you came through. We post guards all the time.”

Daniel nodded and thanked them. He had no reason to disbelieve the man. He looked at Cam.

“Where to?”

Cam shrugged.

“Home. But we should check this Stargate too just to be on the safe side.”

Daniel hooked up his little machine and got yet another address. He jotted it down then dialed home.

*

“Someone has us chasing our tails, General Landry. They have somehow manipulated the gates to show stops all over the place yet we aren’t finding any trace of Sam or Jonathan.” Cam slammed his gear down and sat down himself.

Cam was frustrated and angry now. He had, up to now, been mostly calm about the whole thing, confident that they’d find them, but now he was beginning to wonder what was going on.

“Any news from the Nox?” Daniel asked.

“No. Nothing at all since Jack returned from their planet and went to Edora.” Landry was becoming as frustrated as Cameron.

“So what do we do now?” Vala asked, a question directed at them all. “I don’t think this is the Lucian Alliance. They would be more serious and perhaps more deadly.”

Landry sighed. “Get some food and some rest and you can start again tomorrow.”

*

As tired as they all were, dinner should have been subdued but it wasn’t. Cam started telling war stories and soon all three of them were laughing as they ate. Vala recounted her first meeting with Daniel, much to his annoyance and Cam’s glee.

“Did she really do all those things?”

“You know her as well as I do. At least she didn’t handcuff me naked to a bed,” Daniel countered with a smirk.

“There is that!” Vala laughed and smacked Cam on the arm.

The banter continued all through the meal and beyond as they all walked back to their living quarters. Daniel’s was first and he ducked into his small home away from home. Cam and Vala continued to her door. Vala kissed Cam’s cheek.

“Goodnight, Cameron.”

He caught her arm as she turned to open the door and pulled her close. He kissed her lips, a quick hungry kiss, then he let her go.

She looked as if she might hit him for second then she touched her lips with her fingertips. “What was that for?”

Cam actually blushed. “It, um, seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Silly man,” she whispered as she put her hand up to his cheek. The without another word, she turned and went into her room.

Cam wandered back to his own room, wondering if it were possible for a man to kick his own ass. He had to work with her, for God’s sake. Why in the world did he do that?

But he knew the answer. Lately, she had been on his mind day and night. Maybe he just needed to get laid. That had to be it. Life here at the SGC wasn’t too conducive to dating, much less actually having sex with someone off base.

He got up and headed for the cafeteria and the all night coffee urn.

*

It was evening on the planet where Sam and Jonathan were residing. After their outing, their captor had put them in together, perhaps out of sympathy for the small boy all alone without his mother.

Sam didn’t think he seemed to be very much like any kidnapper she’d ever run across. He was almost kind to her and she’d not seen any mistreatment of the boy though he had commented that the food was sometimes pretty bad. She suspected that had more to do with the cook’s skills than any real cruelty.

Something just didn’t add up, she thought as she covered Jonathan O’Neill in the thin blanket from her pack and lay down beside him to sleep.

*

Vala dreamed of Daniel Jackson.

He was telling her that he didn’t dare love her for fear she’d hurt him and that she didn’t deserve his love. She felt anger and shame burn through her at his words. Didn’t he understand how much he meant to her?

She woke crying.

She sat up and wiped her eyes. It was only a little past midnight. This was going to be a long damned night.

She got up and dressed and headed for the cafeteria and some coffee.

Cam was there too. He didn’t look much better than she did.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” He asked, the kiss of a few hours before still burned into his loins.

“Slept but had awful dreams. I decided even your company was better than that.”

“Why thanks, ma’am. We aim to please.” He got up and poured her a cup of coffee. “Here ya go, little lady.”

She smiled gratefully. At least he didn’t seem to take things between them seriously.

Did he?

*

Daniel Jackson was thinking about their day and wondering who had taken Samantha and Jack’s son and what they really wanted. Whoever they were, he hoped they didn’t harm either of them. They’d find no place in the universe to hide from Jack O’Neill. No place at all.


~~~~~

CHAPTER 14

Cam felt like he’d been in bed about ten minutes when his alarm woke him. He sat up and rubbed his face. He should never have left his room last night. He was getting too old for this crap.

He got up, grabbed clean clothes and headed to the shower. They may have their own little rooms here but they still had communal showers like any military barracks. He stood under the hot water until he felt like a human, or nearly like one again then dressed and headed to the control room.

Walter was at work today. Sometimes he wondered if Walter ever slept.

“What’s happenin’, Walter?”

“Pretty quiet so far, sir. Nothing in or out yet.”

“Landry been in?”

“He’s in his office.”

“I’m going to grab some food and will be back soon. Jackson and Vala been around?”

“Dr. Jackson is in his office but Vala hasn’t been up here.”

Cam thought about last night. What the hell had gotten into him? How would they work together if she did sleep with him? Did he care?

He grabbed a sandwich and some coffee and headed to the briefing room. Time to find Samantha and Jonathan. Maybe.

Daniel was already sitting at the table reading something in a folder. He looked up when Cam walked in.

”Good morning. I’ve been thinking about how the Gate keeps looping back and forth without us finding them and I think whoever they are, they have some way of making the Stargates think they dialed other Gates that they, in fact, did not dial.”

“That makes sense but how?”

“That’s the part I don’t know but I’m guessing they have some sort of electronic scrambler. That way we can’t follow them.”

“That makes hunting them impossible then, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

Cam sighed. “I hate this doing nothing crap. I need something to shoot at or blow up.”

“You sound like Jack.”

Landry came in at that time. “Good morning, gentlemen. Anything new?”

“Jackson here thinks we’re being led on a wild goose chase.”

Landry looked at Dr. Jackson, who explained again what he’d just said to Col. Mitchell.

“That means someone is doing this for… what reason? It can’t be the device they asked for, can it?”

“It wouldn’t seem so,” Daniel answered, rubbing his chin in thought.

Vala made her usual quiet entrance. “How are all you lovely men this morning?”

Other than glancing at her as she came in, they paid her little attention.

“So what can the reason be?” Landry asked Daniel.

“I think that when we find that answer, we’ll know where they are.”

“I think we simply need to find them. Period. Why doesn’t matter at all,” Cam broke in.

Vala sat down beside Daniel. “Where is Harry Maybourne?”

“He went back home last night,” Landry answered her. “The last thing any of us need is that little bastard sneaking around.”

Both Daniel and Cameron nodded agreement to that statement. Maybourne might seem harmless now but he’d not always been that way, not by a long shot. When he’d worked for the NID, he’d been deadly.

“So what do we do now?” Vala asked.

“Start at the beginning. We go back to Edora and work our way out from there. The answer is somewhere,” Daniel answered her.

“I agree. General Landry?” Cameron asked. Landry simply nodded.

They all grabbed their gear and were ready to go in minutes.

*

Jack and Laira met them as they walked up the road to Laira’s house.

“Any news?”

“Let’s go inside,” Daniel said and immediately saw the panic on Laira’s face. “No, nothing has happened but we have a theory. We just wanted to tell you what we are thinking.”

Laira heated water for tea as they sat around her table.

“We have followed all the instructions and so far, they have either been a step ahead of us or simply weren’t where they said they’d be. The device they asked for doesn’t seem so important to them either. There’s just something not right about this whole thing but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Any word from the Nox?” Jack asked.

“Nothing yet. I don’t really expect to hear from them, to be honest. You know they will have us do things for ourselves if possible,” Daniel answered.

“So what was the point of this? To torture me?” Jack’s eyes were dark with anger.

“Maybe to get your attention?” Mitchell countered. “If they wanted to torture you, they’d send evidence that they’ve hurt the boy or Carter.”

“Laira, do all of the people of this village know that Jonathan is Jack’s son?” Daniel asked as Vala rose to help Laira with tea and some muffins she had baked that morning for breakfast.

“Most do. They remember the season he stayed with us and they remember when my son was born. People might not say much to my face but they all know what is going on.”

“Is it possible that one of them has something against you or Jack? Maybe they all aren’t quite as innocent as they seem.” Mitchell said.

Laira answered. “I am sure there are people who do not like me, thought I was disloyal to my dead husband when Jack stayed with me but what would they gain?”

“Maybe they didn’t gain anything but maybe they did help whoever has Jonathan and Carter,” Daniel added.

Jack looked at them all. “So are we back at square one?”

Teal’c had said nothing through all of this. “It would seem we are dealing with someone who is a friend rather than a foe then.”

“Then why take Jonathan?” Jack was becoming frustrated with the team and the whole idea that this was done by someone other than an enemy.

“Like Daniel said, they just seem to want our attention or more importantly, Jack’s attention,” Cameron repeated Daniel’s words.

“Friend or foe, I think I’ll just shoot them when we get Sam and Jonathan back,” Jack said as he grabbed his weapons off the kitchen table and headed out the front door. “I’m going for a walk.”

Teal’c rose and followed him, saying nothing.


~~~~~

CHAPTER 15

Several days had passed since they delivered the device to the kidnappers and Sam had been taken. There had been no word at all. Daniel had checked all the Gates even though he already knew they were not going to find anything. There just wasn’t anything to find.

Normally with a kidnapping, every day that passes means a smaller chance of the victims being found alive but in this instance, they all believed that Carter and Jonathan would be found alive and well. The only questions were how, when and where.

Jack continued his vigil on Edora with Laira, Teal’c, and their small complement of Marines. The rest of SG-1 was back at Cheyenne Mountain, puzzling over the whole thing.

Cam and Vala continued to circle one another in a dance that neither seemed to be able to stop outright. And Daniel was oblivious.

*

Cam had invited Vala off base into town for dinner again. Daniel had turned down the invitation, much to Cam’s dismay. Daniel was a deterrent to his growing obsession, or should he say his libido’s growing obsession, with Vala Mal Doran.

He’d found a new steak place that he wanted to try out and Vala certainly matched him in her appetite for food so she was happy to accompany him when he asked her.

The food was good. The meat was tender and tasty, the salads fresh and crispy and they made a wonderful loaf of homemade bread that was served with each meal.

Cameron and Vala were content to eat quietly when their salads came but the silence didn’t last. Cameron tried to talk about work, about the kidnappings and such but Vala kept teasing him. He wondered if she were simply teasing out of habit or if she knew what she was doing.

Vala certainly was no innocent girl. She’d been a Goa’uld and even worked with the Lucian Alliance, stealing and smuggling here and there. She could cheat or bluff her way out of lots bad situations too. He knew that from first hand experience but he’d seen a whole different person when her father had come to earth to live for a bit.

He thought he’d explode when she cut a tiny piece of her steak and fed it to him on her fork. He wasn’t sure whether to swallow it or jump across the table and devour her instead.

Finally and mercifully the dinner was done and they headed back to the base. As soon as they were back at the SGC in the deep part of Cheyenne Mountain, Vala turned to him and said, “Don’t I get a kiss at my door? Isn’t that the custom here on earth?”

His libido cackled with delight.

“It is if one is on a date.”

Vala laughed. “I went through this with Daniel once and somehow you ended up shackled to my bed. Remember, tiger?”

Despite all his better ideals and despite having more sense than to do it, he grabbed her and pushed her up against her closed door and kissed her, a long, deep kiss that certainly made his toes curl, among other things. Then without another word, he pushed himself away from her and high-tailed it to his own room, locking the door behind him.

Damn Vala Mal Doran! Damn her to hell!

*

At the briefing the next morning, everyone looked as if they’d had a lot to drink the night before. Except Vala, who was all smiles as she entered the room last as usual.

“Hi, boys. Ready to save the world today?”

“Sit down and shut up,” Cam mumbled as she sat beside him.

“Did we get up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“I did. You seem chipper enough though.”

Vala just smiled and opened the briefing notes.

Landry entered the room and sat at the head of the table. “There’s been no more word from the kidnappers, which is not necessarily a bad thing but it does leave us in a quandary as to what to do.”

Daniel spoke. “I think some of those planets that we were sent to bear a little closer scrutiny, maybe even Edora.”

Landry raised an eyebrow. “Edora? Are you thinking some of Laira’s people took the child?”

“No, but I think there may be clues as to who did somewhere on the planet.”

“Why do you think this?”

“Because all of the information has come from there and yet no one knows anything but that someone gave them a disc to deliver a few times.”

“So you’re thinking they have a hiding place or something there?”

“It’s possible. I don’t think the Edorans guard the gate much and it’s far enough away from Laira’s village that it could be used without the villagers knowing.”

Cam and Vala had neither said a word during this exchange. Landry looked at them expectantly. “Well? Do you agree with Dr. Jackson?”

Both nodded.

“Hangovers?” Landry asked.

“Cam is just a very grumpy man,” Vala said as she poked him in the rib with her elbow.

“Well, get over it, Mitchell. You all have places to go and things to do.”

*

Several days had passed since Sam had been brought here, wherever here was. Their captor always wore a mask, never showing his face so there wasn’t even a sure way to know he was human but Sam had a hunch that he was.

Jonathan was holding up well. He refused to cry, repeating that big boys simply did not cry. He even seemed to have some idea that it was his job to protect her. He was so like what she had imagined a young Jack to have been, what she hoped her own son would be someday.

If she ever got a chance at that someday.

It was breakfast time. She waited for the knock. The man brought their food at precisely the same time every day. Very military, she thought.

She woke Jonathan and they sat on a crate to eat the warm porridge. It wasn’t bad and there was milk too. Milk of what, she didn’t know, but it was cold and tasted good. After food, they were taken to the bathroom and then allowed to walk a bit. Jonathan never missed a chance to play with the puppies either.

“I want a puppy at home. We don’t have many dogs on our planet and they are expensive so we can’t get one. Most of them are used by herders and stuff. Not many are pets.”

“There are many, many dogs on earth. I think most are pets though there are still working dogs too. Maybe someday you can come see them.”

“I’d like that. Maybe I can come and stay with my dad there.”

“I hope so, Jonathan. I think your dad would love to take you fishing someday.”


~~~~~

CHAPTER 16

When SG-1 arrived on Edora, the Marines met them at the Gate.

“Anyone come through here in the last 24 hours?” Cam asked the Marine in charge.

“No sir. It’s been as quiet as could be.”

Cameron sighed. He had almost wished that someone had been through… or tried to open the Gate. They needed to be thrown a bone here. Nothing so far had panned out so now they were going to search the planet for any anomaly or oddity they could find.

“Let’s get to the village and see if we can borrow some horses and maybe a guide or two,” he said to the rest of the team.

There weren’t many horses and fewer guides. The old man, Paynan, gave them some general directions and Laira provided them with provisions. Teal’c joined them as they set out in an old wagon that looked a bit rough but seemed sturdy enough with a pair of geriatric horses pulling it with more enthusiasm than Cam would have thought possible.

The roads were narrow but clear as far as they went. The planet was more plains than woods so even without a road, they could travel fairly well. There just wasn’t anything to see. No signs of anyone else. Or anything else.

They rode out about two hours then stopped to rest the horses.

“I’m thinking we need to scout around on foot,” Cam finally said. “I think the horses will be all right here if we water them and give them some oats to munch while we look around.”

Vala and Daniel paired up and headed in one direction while Teal’c and Cameron headed the opposite way. An hour later, they met back at the wagon.

“Anything?”

“Some very old wagon trails. Probably not used in years. But that’s it for us,” Daniel reported.

“We didn’t have that much luck! We saw a bird fly over and that was it.” Cam was becoming more and more aggravated by their lack of progress.

They returned to the village just as the sun set.

Laira had a pot of stew cooked for them and Jack seemed right at home acting as host.

“So did you find anything at all?” He asked, dryly, knowing the answer already.

“Bupkus, nada!” Cam responded.

“You do have a lovely planet but we didn’t find anything useful,” Vala said around big spoonfuls of food.

Daniel looked pensive then finally spoke. “What about the caves?”

Many years in the past, the natives had hidden in the caves when the annual meteor showers came. Laira’s older son had hidden there when Jack and SG-1 had come before. That was how Jack came to be stranded there for several months.

Jack looked at Laira. “Are they still accessible?”

“As far as I know,” Laira answered. “I’ve not been to them since you were here.”

O’Neill stood, ready to go with SG-1 to explore the last unturned stone on this planet. If they found nothing there, they were back at square one once again. They trekked out to the cave silently.

Jack went inside first. There he found food wrappers strewn about the cave floor. As the Edoras were an agrarian society, there were no food wrappers from this planet. They weren’t ones left by his team either.

“What do you make of these?” Jack handed one to Daniel. It was some sort of plastic and did not seem to be very old.

“They’re new but there’s no writing. No brand, nothing.”

“Generic food bars sometimes come in plain wrappers… so they could have come from earth,” Cam turned one inside out.

“Who on earth would know about Jack’s son when Jack didn’t even know?” Daniel asked.

“The Trust,” Teal’c and Jack said at the same time.

“But as far as we know, they’re all gone. Ba’al was the last of the Goa’uld. What about the last of the NID? I know there had to be some who didn’t go Goa’uld,” Cam asked.

“Let’s see what else we can find.” Vala held her weapon at the ready and headed back farther into the cave. Cam shoved around her and took point while Daniel brought up the rear.

There were foot prints, boot prints by the look of them and a few more wrappers on the floor. It was obvious that whoever was here either never thought he’d be caught or didn’t really care.

“Well, we know where the discs came from.” Cam pointed to a small table with a recording device on it. Beside it sat a chair. Both table and chair looked to be Edoran in origin.

Vala started to pick it up when Daniel grabbed her hand. “Wait.” He prodded it with his weapon and it didn’t explode. “Okay, now you can touch it.”

“Let’s not. Let’s bag it and take it back to the SGC. Maybe someone there has some criminal investigation background. Maybe we need to try to find evidence.” Cam knew he sounded like a television show but he had a niggling feeling that the recorder might hold some real clues.

They managed to find a couple of bags in one of their packs to put the little recorder in and they kept looking around. There was nothing more in the cave. They tucked the wrappers into a bag too.

“Let’s head back with this. Whoever was here is long gone, I expect,” Jack said. “I’ll stay here with Laira just in case we hear again.”

They made the trek back to Laira’s home and she fed them once again, seemingly glad for the distraction of doing something for someone else. After dinner, SG-1 bid Jack and Teal’c goodbye and left for home.

*

“You found these on the planet?” Landry sounded incredulous. “Does that mean some of Laira’s friends took the boy?”

Daniel fielded that one. “They don’t have the technology. Someone may be aiding the kidnappers, knowingly or not, but the kidnappers are from off world, maybe even Earth.”

“So where does that leave us?”

“Well, maybe there are fingerprints or DNA or something on these things we brought back,” Cam said.

“Been watching CSI again, haven’t you?” Landry chided the team leader.

“Hey, whatever works.”

“Sam’s friend Pete is still on the force here Colorado Springs. Maybe he could help us,” Daniel offered.

“Call him,” both Landry and Cam said at the same time.

*

Pete Shanahan listened to Daniel Jackson and when he came to the part about Samantha being kidnapped, Pete interrupted him. “What do you need?”

Daniel told him and in less than an hour, a police forensics expert was checking the wrappers and the recorder for prints and other possible evidence. The tech told them that he’d contact them as soon as he had any information.

On the way back to the SGC, Vala asked, “Now what?”

Daniel answered, “Now we wait.”

“Again,” Cam added.


~~~~~

CHAPTER 17


As it turned out, the wait wasn’t very long but the information was not exactly useful. Pete Shanahan called back in less than two hours. Landry talked to him while the rest of SG-1 listened.

“Are you sure? All right. Yes, I’ll tell them and I’ll call you when we know anything. I know you are fond of Samantha. Yes, I promise I’ll call.”

Landry didn’t say anything for a moment after he hung up.

“Well? What is it?” Vala looked like she was about to explode.

“They found out who the prints belong to but, get this, he’s been dead for almost a year.”

“Dead?” Daniel said and Cam echoed a second later.

“Yes, dead. As a doornail.”

“Did he say who he was?”

“His name was Desmond Blackwelder and when they tried to get more info on him, they ran into a wall. It seems our dead Desmond Blackwelder might be connected to some clandestine government agency.”

“The NID?” Cam asked.

“Perhaps. I am going to see if I can find out just who he was. But that still doesn’t help us. The discs were made last week, not a year ago,” Landry answered. “I’ll make some calls and see what I can turn up.” He left the room to do just that.

Cam turned to Daniel. “Now what?”

“More waiting?” Daniel said.

“Lunch! I’m starving! Anyone want to join me?” Vala stood up and headed for the door. Cam and Daniel trailed along behind her.

Daniel and Cam ate very little while they watched Vala cram all manner of pastry into her mouth while she made happy noises and licked the extra sugar from her fingers. Cam had to suppress a moan of his own once or twice.

“Aren’t you boys hungry?” She got up to grab another honey bun and more coffee.

Daniel was trying to think about what they were going to do next but Cam had given up thought as he watched Vala eat.

She had to know what she was doing, he thought. He’d had sex that wasn’t nearly as erotic as what she was doing now.

“Cam? Did you hear me?” Daniel jarred him from his Vala-trance.

“Sorry. I was … wool gathering there. What did you say?”

“I think our kidnappers are from here on Earth.”

“Well, the fingerprints would certainly say that, now wouldn’t they?” Vala said dryly.

“They’d say a dead man did it too, man dead for nearly a year, so we know that things aren’t as they appear but still, could it be someone who managed to dig through the SGC files? How else would anyone guess about Laira and Jonathan if Jack didn’t even know?” Daniel was thinking aloud but what he said made sense and left them absolutely nowhere.

“But not even all the people who work here have access to the files,” Cam countered. He, himself, had gone through the files after much maneuvering and red tape on his part so he knew that one didn’t just walk in and open up a laptop and read.

“That is true but some agencies don’t let the rules and regulations get in their way.”

“I’d believe that if I could see where any of this is gaining anything for anyone. If they wanted the device so badly, then they know for sure by now that what we gave them is not it. Wouldn’t they have contacted us? Made more threats?”

“I agree. But if not that, then what?”

“They seem to be leading us along, Jackson. Have you noticed that?”

Daniel didn’t say anything for a sew seconds then nodded. “I have noticed it, but I’m not sure what to make of it.”

“Then you think we’re chasing out tails too?”

“Yes, it would seem we are.”

*

Jack O’Neill and Teal’c were in the caves on Edora, deeper in than SG-1 found the recorder. They were searching for something, anything that would give them another clue. Landry had sent word of what they found, that a dead man had been here, months after his death.

There had to be a clue somewhere. Jack thought the same thing that Jackson and Mitchell did, that they were being jerked around by someone with an awful sense of humor. Or someone who despised Jack enough to torment him but wasn’t evil enough to harm Samantha and Jonathan. He knew that Carter was all right. If something had happened to her, he’d know down deep in his gut, like he had the times that Daniel had been killed or harmed.

The cave seemed to be as clean as could be. There were no clues at all. Nothing. Almost as if it had been cleaned up to make sure no one would find anything.

“I think we may as well call it a day. There’s not a damned thing here.” He passed Teal’c as he had turned to go back the way they came.

*

Mitchell almost rushed General Landry as he came into the conference room. “Did you find out more? Did your sources come through?”

Landry waved him down and refused to answer until Dr. Jackson and Vala arrived too.

“Sit. I just got a call from a … friend. It seems that our Mr. Desmond Blackwelder is a bit of an enigma. He isn’t anywhere except for a name and a set of prints. He had no address, no phone number, no family, no past, nothing.”

“So he’s not real?” Vala asked.

“Oh, he’s real all right. He’s just not Desmond Blackwelder,” General Landry answered.

“Then who?” Cam was hoping Landry would have an answer.

“That is the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Every enquiry runs into dead space and brick walls.”

“Is the government protecting him?” Vala asked.

“I think not. I think he’s protecting himself maybe,” Landry said.

Cam shook his head. “None of it makes any sense.”

“I don’t think it’s supposed to, Mitchell,” Landry finally answered. “That’s the hardest part.”

*

Samantha and Jonathan were outside all morning, playing with the puppies and exploring the compound. There was always someone watching but he never removed his mask and he never said much, just terse commands when it was time to go back to their little room.
Jonathan asked lots of questions about Jack and Sam always answered as truthfully as she could. She could almost imagine that if she had a son that he might be somewhat like this little boy. If she and Jack—But no, she’d not let herself go there. They both had always been soldiers and their work left little room for anyone else.

But still, she thought of him every day. Always.


~~~~~

CHAPTER 18

Probably the only people in the galaxy not scared to death for Sam and Jonathan were Sam and Jonathan themselves. They began to realize that they weren’t watched all the time. Samantha even suspected that their guard was the only other person anywhere nearby.

She began to try to figure out where the Stargate was. She knew about how long they had walked to the compound from the Gate but she couldn’t be sure that they came the shortest route. Assuming they did though, she could calculate about how far it was from her. Now all she needed was to figure the direction and to get free for a bit. Those were the tricky parts.

The road came in from the west and that seemed to be the only way in. She knew they had walked along a gravel road so that had to have been how she got there. They hadn’t seemed to change direction a lot but it was hard to tell blindfolded. She knew that if they were to escape, they had to find the Stargate. She had her code with her still since they’d only taken her weapon so they could go home safely if she could only get to the Gate.

*

Looking for Desmond Blackwelder was proving to be a dead end for SG-1. They just could not seem to get past the wall that protected his real identity. Cam was so frustrated that he was ready to punch something or someone. It seemed to be a constant feeling right now. Daniel was wise enough to stay out of his way when he got like this but Vala couldn’t leave him alone.

“Cam, would you like to walk me to my room? I think since we aren’t doing anything today that I will take a nap.”

Cam grunted but didn’t really answer her one way or the other.

“Do you suppose there are still some Goa’uld out there who have them? Wouldn’t that be horrid?”

Cam still said nothing.

“Or maybe the Ori have some people left…”

“Vala, if you do not shut that mouth, I am going to staple it closed. Do you understand me?” He growled the words at her.

She huffed, “You don’t have to be so testy, Cameron Mitchell!”

“Yes, I do. You are too stupid to know when to shut that mouth of yours!”

Of course this brought on the poor, hurt Vala tears. Daniel Jackson knew it was all a game but he still felt himself wanting to deck Mitchell and protect Vala. Instead he rose and left the room, mumbling something about checking some texts for information on something.

“Now see what you’ve done,” Vala pouted. “You upset Daniel.”

Cam made fists with both hands. “Vala… why don’t you go to your room before I kill you?”

She shrugged as if she had no idea why he was so upset and headed to her quarters.

Unfortunately Cam’s mind might have been angry with her but his body was a whole other thing. It urged him to forget common sense and go after her, to throw her up against the wall and shut her mouth himself.

He sighed. Maybe he should go work out before he killed someone. Someone like Vala Mal Doran.

*

Daniel looked up from a folder when Cam leaned up against the frame of his office door.

“Did you slug her?” Daniel couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

“Nope. I told her to go to her room. She actually went. I spent some time with the punching bag.”

“Do you have to bait her?”

“Me bait her? Are you nuts, Jackson? She seems to try to drive me crazy every second that she’s not trying to drive you crazy.”

Daniel smiled and nodded. “Finally you see it then.”

“You mean all this is on purpose? She’s playing us one off the other?” Cam felt more than stupid now. Had he not seen it before?

“From the minute she first walked through the gate.”

“What are we going to do?” Cam was quite aware of the looks Daniel gave Vala when he thought no one else was looking.

“Try not to let her distract us too much from our jobs. That’s all I’ve got.” Daniel shrugged.

*

Vala sat on her bed. She wasn’t as happy as Cam and Daniel thought she would be. She hated being lonely and both men were such stubborn ones, never willing to give an inch. When she had gone out with Daniel on their ‘date,’ she had hoped that it would lead to something more but her getting kidnapped and forgetting who she was sort of messed that up.

And Cam. If he weren’t so dutiful, he’d bed her in a second. She could see it in his eyes, could feel the tension every time she got close to him. But he would do what he was supposed to do. Always. What was that saying? An officer and a gentleman. That was it. That was her Cameron.

*

Landry paced back and forth until they were all seated and ready to listen to their orders.

“You will be returning to the planets that the kidnappers sent you to the first time. You will arrive on ATV’s to speed up your searching. Teal’c will come back from Edora to go with you so there will be two of you per vehicle. That gives you one person to drive and one to ride shotgun.”

They all nodded, ready to do whatever they had to do.

“Okay. If there are no more questions, let’s get to it. The ATV’s are waiting for you in the Gateroom.”

They visited the first planet and found the same nothing they found before. The only prints in the dirt were the ones they had made on their first trip through the Gate. They rode several miles away in opposite directions but still found mostly nothing. The only signs of life were some ruins that looked so old that the ancients might have built them. Any other day, Daniel would have wanted to stay and explore but not today. Today, he had a more important mission.

They went back to the Gate and set out in opposite directions again but again found nothing of any import. Discouraged, they went home.

*

Desmond Blackwelder was actually quite alive. He was not on earth though. He was at a location that no one would ever think to look for him. He was having the time of his life. He smiled and whistled as he walked away from the Stargate.


~~~~~

CHAPTER 19

Everyone seemed to have forgotten about the Nox, everyone but Jack. He knew they would do all they could to find Jonathan and Carter. He was, however, beginning to get very impatient. He wanted the chance to get to know his boy. And he didn’t think he could live in a world without Carter.

“Laira, I need to go back home. I need to help with the hunt. I am going nuts sitting here doing nothing.”

She smiled gently at him. “I was wondering how long it would take you decide that. I am fine here. I know your people will find our son and bring him back to us. I just know they will.”

He rose, kissed her cheek and headed for the Gate. He did leave the Marines there for her protection.

*

Jack didn’t account for what time it was on earth and he landed in the Gateroom at about 3:30 am. He wasn’t surprised to find Walter there, manning the computer.

“Don’t you ever sleep?” He said as he waved to the man behind the glass window.

“Sometimes but I do swing shifts so some of the others who have family can get home more often.”

“Good man. I’m going to go find some coffee and wake General Landry. You carry on.”

Landry was actually asleep in his office in his chair. He did this more often than he’d admit to anyone too. Sometimes he thought to himself that it was no wonder his marriage had broken up. He was married to his work and his work was a demanding mate.

The knock woke him. “What? Chief?”

General O’Neill opened the door. “Sorry to wake you--”

“Did something happen?”

“No. I just decided to come back and forgot the time difference.”

“How come you decided to come back?”

“I need something to do, to help. I’m just sitting on my ass on Edora and it’s driving me nuts.”

“Right now, that’s about all any of us are doing. The team’s been out searching the planets we turned up with the Gate reader but so far, nothing.”

“I’m thinking we maybe need to contact the Nox again. I think they may be our only chance to find Carter and my son.”

“I can’t argue with you. We’ll get Jackson to send them a message again in the morning.”

“Why not now?” Jack was so eager that he forgot the time.

“It’s 3:30 am and Jackson is probably asleep. They put in a long day too.”

“Make us some coffee and we’ll wait for them to get up.”

Landry couldn’t argue. If someone had his daughter, he’d be the same way so he nodded and emptied the old coffee filter and rinsed it to make a fresh pot.

*

Vala was awake at 3:30 am too. She was thinking about Daniel Jackson and Cameron Mitchell.

Again.

Why were they both so difficult?

She punched her pillow and moaned, trying to get back to sleep.

*

Sam and Jonathan asked if they could explore more of the area. Their captor simply nodded. After all, where could they go?

“What we need to do is see if we can figure out where the Stargate is. We won’t try to go to it yet. We’re not ready to try to escape. I just want to see if I can find the right direction.”

Jonathan nodded and walked beside her.

“My mama said my papa goes through the Stargate all the time. Why can’t he find us here?”

“He doesn’t go through it much anymore. He is a leader of those who do now. His title is Head of Homeworld Security. His job is to make sure that those of us going through the Stargates and flying on spaceships protect our home from people who would harm us.”

“Then he is very important among his people?” The boy beamed with pride at the thought.

“Yes and he’s very important to his friends too. Your father is a good man, Jonathan. When you get to know him, you’ll see.”

“We’d better find that Gate then!” The little boy’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Without ranging very far at all from the compound, they did find the mostly likely direction. The road was well used and it was in the direction that Sam had thought before.

They decided to head back before their captor decided that they needed to be locked up in the shed again. Jonathan wanted to play with the puppies before it got dark.

*

Daniel couldn’t sleep. He got up at five and wandered down to the cafeteria. He grabbed coffee and sat down. Perhaps they should contact the Nox again. Their explorations were getting them nowhere and they still had no idea who Desmond Blackwelder had been.

He’d only ever felt so useless before when Apophis had taken Sha’re. Look how that turned out, he thought.

Were they missing something? He didn’t think so. This kidnapping wasn’t like one he’d ever seen before. The kidnappers really didn’t seem to want anything. They asked for a device that probably didn’t even exist. He certainly didn’t think the Nox used any sort of machine.

It was hard to figure out what someone had done when they couldn’t even figure out his motivation.

“There you are!” Jack startled Daniel.

“What are you doing here? You were on Edora.”

Jack smiled his odd smile. “Got tired of pacing and drinking Laira’s tea, not that there’s anything wrong with it but I needed to be here doing something.”

Dr. Jackson laughed. “I’m afraid we’re about out of ideas as to what to do.”

“I was thinking that we might contact the Nox again. But first, I’m going to ask Harry Maybourne what he knows about Desmond Blackwelder. If anyone would know about someone like that, it would be him.”

“I had thought of the idea of contacting the Nox. But not Harry. He could be of some help if he wanted to.”

“Let’s do it.”

*

The other SG-1 members were up and ready to head out by six-thirty. Jack joined them in the Gateroom as Walter dialed in and they headed once more to visit Harry Maybourne.


~~~~~

CHAPTER 20

Harry Maybourne was doing what he usually did when his visitors arrived. He was sitting on his throne. Two of his wives were attending him. One was fanning him in the heat of the day and the other was separating sections of an orange-like fruit and feeding it to him one piece at a time.

“Hi ya, Jack! Did you find the boy yet?”

“Nope. No luck yet but I did have another question for you.”

“I don’t know what more I can tell you but I’ll certainly try.”

Jack wondered why every word Harry had ever said sounded like a lie even when Jack knew he was telling the truth. His relationship with Harry could hardly be called a friendship but he was fairly sure that he was the closest thing Maybourne had to a friend. Well, except his subjects here, but that didn’t count, did it?

“Did you ever know a man named Desmond Blackwelder?”

“I… ah… maybe. The name sounds familiar. Why?’

“We believe he took the boy, then Carter.”

“Why come here? Couldn’t you check him out back at the SGC?”

“According to the only record we found, he’s dead.”

“And you figured if anyone would know him, I would?”

“That’s pretty much it.”

“He’s listed as dead, you say?” Harry scratched his chin.

“Completely. But he’s not because we got his fingerprints.”

“And no other info?”

“Nothing. Landry even called in favors but still nothing. I figured maybe he was connected with the NID when it went Goa’uld.”

“You think he’s a Goa’uld?”

Jack shook his head. “Can’t be. As far as we know, he hasn’t hurt them. And there have been no real drama queen stunts like the Goa’uld pull but the NID wasn’t Goa’uld when you worked for them so maybe he was just an agent. Maybe he got out before they went snakehead.”

“I do seem to remember working with him on a few missions. He was quiet. Did his work and never said much. All in all, I’d say rather unremarkable.”

“Do you know any details about him?”

Harry thought for a moment. “He was from Virginia. Military family. No wife or kids. Not many of us had those. The work was too risky. Like yours was.”

Jack thought back for a split second to why he’d joined the Stargate program. He’d joined to allow them to help him commit suicide after Charlie’s death. It hadn’t worked out that way though. He had, however, made sure that he’d had no more family connections after that. Or so he thought. Carter and Jonathan were changing that right now.

“Not much to go on.”

“Nothing to go on, if you ask me,” Daniel chimed in after being quiet as long as he could. He’d never had much use for Maybourne and still didn’t.

Harry put his hands up. “What can I say? I don’t know everything.”

“No, but you do know most everyone you ever worked with. You have a mind for detail and I am sure you know everything there is to know about this Blackwelder. I’m just not sure why you feel like you shouldn’t tell us.”

“I did take oaths and such.”

Daniel laughed. “Right. Like they mean anything to you now. Just tell us about him and we’ll leave you to your… wives.”

“Wives can be highly overrated. But I’ll see what I remember. Would you like some wine? My wives are quite the little vintners.”

“Only if it’ll make you think faster,” Jack answered him.

“It will.”

Harry led them to one of the outdoor tables and had one of his wives pour them all a glass of wine. Jack nodded as he tasted. It wasn’t bad at all.

“Now talk.”

“Blackwelder worked for me a few times. Never said much, did his job, was reliable.”

“Is he dead?” Jack asked.

“I never heard that he was. I’m sure that he must be in some deep cover.”

“To kidnap my son and Carter?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t get much news here, Jack. All I can tell you is Blackwelder was okay. He must have a reason for what he did.”

“That’s it?” Jack stared at Harry.

“Yep, that’s it.”

“You’re still mostly worthless, Harry.”

Harry was not bothered in the least. “Anytime, Jack. Anytime.”

*

Far, far away on the Nox city above the clouds, Lya looked at a screen. Though the Nox preferred their lives simple, they did have technology when they needed it. Lya was doing as she had promised and was trying to locate Colonel Carter and Jack O’Neill’s son.

She was a little puzzled at what she was finding, but her data was good so the answer must be the correct one. She motioned Anteaus over.

“That is strange,”” he agreed with her. “Are Carter and the child harmed?”

“No. They are well. They are not kept locked up except during the night.”

“Are O’Neill and the others making any progress in finding them?”

“I do not see any.” Lya was fond of the humans. The Asgard were right about them. They were a good people with much potential, but they were still very young. “Shall we rescue them?”

“As long as they are unharmed, let us wait a little longer.”

Lya nodded and smiled. “Very well. I will continue to monitor them.”

*

Sam Carter was doodling on the dirt floor with a small stick. She was drawing a map of the compound and trying to flesh out the outlying areas from memory and from what she and Jonathan had seen on their unsupervised walks.

She needed to figure out how to get out of the locked storage room. The rest was as simple as sneaking toward the Gate and hoping that their captor was a sound sleeper. She decided that they only had one captor now though there had been several in the beginning. He was the only one they’d seen in several days.

There were some tools here in the shed. She needed to take stock and see if anything would do the job.

The lock was a simple hasp but even that was hard to pry loose without a strong enough instrument to do it with. She needed a crowbar or a large screwdriver even. She might only get one chance so it had to work.

She found some broken tools but none were usable as a pry bar. She sighed in frustration. There had to be something. She was pacing and thinking when she saw it, an old hoe that had fallen down behind a shelf. She didn’t get it out. It was late and Jonathan was still asleep. It would still be there tomorrow night.


~~~~~