Chapter Forty-One

SGC
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Calla and Daniel hadn’t really made up before he left for Sengul but nonetheless she went to the SGC to see him off. Calla always did that unless there was some problem with the kids or something she liked to see him until the very last second before he disappeared into the event horizon.  She waved good-bye to him from the behind the thick glass of the control room with a heavy heart.

Today there were other considerations.  All of the UPs who’d volunteered for the little experiment were also in the SGC, including Morgan and Duncan, for their first round of injections.  Annie would administer the miracle which would bring them children and which had to be taken in four rounds.  The UPs also had to be examined to be sure that physically they were capable of carrying out this task. The UPs wouldn’t have to return for the next three rounds but instead they would be shown how to inject themselves and those squeamish about doing so would go to Annie when she returned to Altair Ain.

David was also here today. Calla was going for her little sleep test in a few hours and Morpheus had been summoned to do his thing with his Dream Dust and should be arriving shortly. David promised to stay with her the entire time while she slept though Calla didn’t think she’d be sleeping very much no matter how much Dream Dust Morpheus used on her. She was too worried about Daniel, Altair Ain, and the UPs to sleep.  Fact was, she hadn’t slept in two nights since Daniel announced this little trip and Nicholas the bone head agreed to go with him.

“Are you nervous?” Morgan asked Duncan while they sat in the hall outside of the examination room.  His leg was jumping up and down almost uncontrollably and he was wringing his hands.  “If you don’t want to do this you should tell me now.” She encouraged hoping that wasn’t it.

“No,” Duncan said, “that’s not it. Of course I want to have a baby with you.” Duncan huffed a sigh and got up to pace around for a bit.  He looked down into Morgan’s violet eyes not wanting to disappoint her.  “I can’t do it like this.” Duncan shook his head and bent to take her hands before she could speak again. “I have to talk to Calla first.”

Poor Duncan he’d been all eaten up inside since the Town Meeting.  “I understand.” Morgan kissed his hands. “Go on, she’s just down the hall don’t be afraid.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like she’s going to throw anything at you, is it?” He smirked before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking off down the hall dreading the conversation to come.  With a heavy heart and a lump in his throat Duncan poked his head into Calla’s room. “Hi, Ollie.” He said meekly.  “Mind if I come in?” He almost looked down at his feet but remembered to keep his head up and be alert for flying objects. She didn’t reach for anything and there were plenty of items by her bedside just the right size for chucking at someone.  She didn’t motion for him to come in either.  “Just for a minute?  I have to talk to you before I go through with this.”

That was unexpected and Calla gauged him carefully before patting the side of the bed for him to come and sit down with her.

She looked so old, older than she had any right to appear, most of all she looked so goddamn tired. It broke his heart to think of that little girl so bubbly, curious and full of life that used to run around the old mansion playing Ollie to his Stan.  Surely he’d never see her or even any hint of her again.

David, at first sat by the bed but Duncan really looked like he had something heavy on his mind and he thought that, perhaps, he should give them a little alone time. “Hey, Sunshine, how ‘bout I go get us a cuppla cups a coffee?”

Coffee sounded good but not from here and Calla made a sour face.

“I could go and see if Mike’s Coffee Shop is still in business,” David said easily, “I remember how much you liked their coffee and their cinnamon sticks.  What do ya say?”

A little bit of Old Home. Calla smiled and nodded her head.

“You got it, I’ll be back in a bit.”  He walked out of the room leaving Duncan and Calla to their conversation.

Sitting there watching him go Duncan thought he’d have to thank the man later, he didn’t have to leave.  There was a long and dreadfully uneasy silence before Duncan spoke again and when it did it was with a heavy heart. “It’s another fine mess I’ve gotten myself into, huh?” He said with a weak smile and tried to take her hand but she pulled it away. “Don’t do that, Ollie, please. I know you’re angry with me, I’m angry with me.” He admitted.  “I need you to know that I would never do anything like that solely to hurt you.  That’s the last thing I’d ever want. I know how much it meant to you to rule even if you’ll never admit it yourself.” Duncan waited for her to answer but of course she couldn’t so instead she just shrugged her shoulders as if to say; so what?  Duncan wanted so badly to tell her why he’d stood up and called for the No Confidence vote but he promised Daniel he wouldn’t and, in the end, it would probably just make Calla angrier. She’d come such a long way in her life just to have all the good she’d done yanked away from her here near the end of that life. She’d gone from the girl who should have been the very privileged Daughter of Lord Ares and Lady Aphrodite to Naganti Kanan’s Cha’Dech for twenty-five horrible years he didn’t want to think about. Then she was mousey little Calla, new Cha’Dech to a very benevolent new master named Daniel. A woman afraid of her own shadow and lost in world she wanted to be part of but didn’t know how. After that she became Calla Jackson, Wife to Daniel and Mother to Nicholas and Colleen. She became a professor and a world famous artiste. A heroin addict. Andrew Hartley’s little slutty arm piece. She’d lost her mind and fought to get it back several times. She’d been instrumental in saving the entire planet from being taken over by the Goa’uld. Finally she arrived back at the beginning and come full circle to rule over Altair Ain as the Lady Callestah was meant to do from the very start.  Here she brought the UPs out of the shadows and gave them a home.  Now, all these years later, they were starting to go out into the larger world, to explore, to learn and hopefully one day to leave Altair Ain and join the mortals to live side by side. Here she sat today, her hair white and her skin pale nearly translucent. A shadow of her former self but her eyes belied her age and they still sparkled with life and mischief hinting at the life she’d once led (and should still be leading). She’d gone on to have three more children, open her arms and her heart to a fourth, and to be blest with three wonderful grandchildren. Kingdom or not there would never be anything more important in her life than her family and her definition of the word wasn’t limited to DNA.

 Through it all she did her best to hold her head high and to accept whatever came her way with grace. Like the others around her, when he stopped for just two seconds and thought about it he was absolutely awed by her. “You’ve always been one of the brightest spots in my life. I can’t tell you why but you need to know that I had a very good reason for doing it, Ollie.  I did and one day you’ll know what it is.”  Now her sad droopy eyes turned toward him with wonder.  “I don’t ask you to forgive me, you don’t have any reason to but I have to ask you something, all right?”  He watched her nod. “Do you still want me to do this?  Do you still think I’ll be a good father? I understand if you don’t and if you don’t, Ollie then…”

Now Calla did take his hands and she stroked her good one along the back of his rugged paw and shook her head.  Of course he was going to be a good father, a great father! She just knew it.

The gesture was small but perfect and set the tears welling in his eyes to rolling streams running down his cheeks. “I just feel like such a schmuck. You’ve gone so far out of your way to do this for us, for all of us and I know you think I stabbed you in the back but I didn’t, I swear it, Ollie. I didn’t.” Duncan held her hands tighter.  “You’re giving us such a fantastic and wonderful gift and I don’t want to take advantage of that no matter how much I want it or how long I’ve waited for it.”

Between his tears and his words, Calla gave up her anger to take him in her arms and plant a kiss on his wet salty cheek.  Duncan let out a little snicker and hugged her back.  When she backed away from him she pointed directly at him and lightly shook her finger.

At first Duncan thought she was admonishing him but then realized she was trying to communicate. “Me?” He asked wiping an errant tear from his cheek and she nodded then turned the finger up right and held it straight with purpose. “Me? I’m number one? Is that it, Ollie?”  She nodded emphatically. “I don’t feel much like number one. Feel more like number two, actually.”  His heart lightened when he heard snicker at the little joke. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for this.”  Now the one finger turned into four. “Four?” He said and then watched her point at herself. Duncan was confused at first but soon caught on. “For you? Is that it?” Again she nodded. “Yes, Ollie I did it for you, I swear it I did.”

Calla couldn’t think of any reason, let a lone a good one, why someone would do something such as unseating her from her throne for her own good but days ago Daniel told her to stop feeling sorry for herself and she’d been trying to do that.  It never occurred to her that Duncan might have a good reason for doing what he did, something other than the good of the kingdom which was all she’d ever had in mind to begin with.  Somehow that made it a little easier to take. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before shooing him off on his way back to wait in line with Morgan and the others for their examination and first injection.  Ollie and Chantel were too big to fit into the underground complex and were waiting outside on the top of Cheyenne Mountain for Annie when she was ready.

“Everything all right now?” Morgan asked when Duncan came and stood beside her.

“Yeah,” he said softly.  “She really is something, you know.”

“I know.” Morgan agreed. 

Duncan resumed his seat and noticed the Elrond and his wife were gone, they must in the examining room.  Here he sat with is wife and mother and new stepfather waiting for one of the biggest moments of their lives to take place.  It was a strange situation to be in but when one lived so long such things were bound to occur. In a way odd way it was good to share this with them and know they all had a future to look forward to.

While the UPs went through their examinations, David came back with coffee and cinnamon sticks from Mike’s and it really was like a bit of Old Home. It was just as she remembered it and Calla found herself wondering if David wouldn’t mind taking her past the old house, just for a moment or two, so she could see it before they left. According to David Mike’s son, also Mike, was running the place now and sent his regards along with a fresh, still warm, dozen glazed donuts.

Calla didn’t think she’d get much sleep here, she hated this place by now and would give anything to never see the inside of the SGC infirmary ever again.  They drank their coffee, ate their donuts and played a few hands of poker to pass the time until Sam and Annie were done with the UPs and ready for her.  It was much later back home in Altair Ain than it was here in Colorado and David was hoping that fact would make it easier for Calla to sleep but he doubted it.  Even now, as old and tired as she was, without Danny she just didn’t sleep very much. It was a good thing then that Danny would be back in a day or two.

“Knock, knock.”

David and Calla looked up from where they were sitting on the bed to see a familiar orderly standing in the door.  “What’s up?”

“I’m here to take Mrs. Jackson down for a CTScan.” One thing was for sure, now that Doctor Jackson’s wife was just that again and no longer Queen of Altair Ain it made it a lot easier on people when it came to what to call her.

“She had one of them the last time she was here.”

“Yes,” the orderly whose name was Jim said, “Doctor Jackson wants her to have another before we get started. We’re also going to check your mobility again, all right Mrs. Jackson?”

That meant they were going to poke her with little pins and bend her joints in funny ways to see if they could them to unhinge or not. Calla rolled her eyes and snorted a big sigh. “I’ll go with ya, Sunshine.” David offered.  Calla shook her head and then shook the cards in her hand.  David looked over to the orderly. “After this hand, ok?” He turned back to Calla. “But I’m gonna win.” She shook her head vigorously from side to side indicating that he was very wrong.  “Ok, Sunshine. Read ‘em and weep.” David laid his hand on the small rolling table.  Full house tens over eights.  He automatically reached for the small pot of gold pieces but she put her hand down over his and then lay down  her cards.  “Oh!” David groused looking at the Royal Flush before him, ace to ten all hearts. “You cheated.”  He cried with a lilt in his voice. Calla laughed and shook her head as she pulled the pot to her. “Come on Sunshine, time to get in the wheelchair. I want a rematch when we get back.”  Jim the orderly came forward to help Calla out of the bed. “I’ll get her.” David told him in a rather stern voice and the man backed off while David picked her up from the bed, settled her into the wheel chair and then put a blanket over her legs.  “I know how easy you get cold.”  Calla patted his hand and rested her head against his flank for a moment. 9 times out of 10 he was a very good man to have around and she was grateful to have him. “Well, go on,” he said to the orderly, “we’ll follow you.”

After rolling her down the hall David hung back and stayed out of the way until Calla was placed on the CT table and then he went to her. She couldn’t see him as she lay half in and half out of the contraption but she could hear his voice and feel the warmth of his hand on hers.  Once they were ready to begin he had to leave the room.  Watching from behind the glass the machine whirred and lights blinked and images came up on several screens in front of him but none of it made any sense to David.  He wondered why Annie wasn’t doing this the UPs had to be done with their exams and shots by now but a technician was running the show.  Maybe things weren’t going as well or easily as had been hoped for with the UPs.  The act of examining and then injecting Ollie and Chantel was daunting at best.  Each of the ogres was over ten feet tall and weighed in the neighborhood of half a ton.  He’d heard they were using a 4 x 4 to take two specially made syringes to the top of the mountain where the happy couple had been patiently waiting all day. Maybe she was still stuck up there. But if that was the case was Sam up there too?  “Anybody hear anything from Danny, yet?” He asked in what he hoped was a casual voice.

“Not that I’m aware of, sir.” The technician answered and continued running through his series of scribbling and adjusting.

David looked down at his watch. They left almost eight hours ago.  He did have some but not much personal experience with offworld missions under the command of the SGC and as far as he knew they were due to check in at any time. He’d just keep an eye on his watch.

Forty-five minutes later the machine finished its work and Calla was freed from its cold grasp only to be wheeled down to the physical therapy room where they were met by Randy the SGC head physical therapist and no stranger to Calla.  Being on the thin side Randy wasn’t nearly as an imposing figure as Sven the Big Swede had been.  He was nice enough but, like the machine she’d just come from, he was rather cold and clinical.  “Hi, Mrs. Jackson, how are you doing today?”

She nodded and held out one hand as if say said; same old same old.

Randy stooped down in front of her and took hold of her uncooperative foot.  “Look away, you know the drill.”  Calla turned her head and closed her eyes before he took a feather from his back pocket and drew it across the arch of her foot.  The toes curled and the foot in his hand gave out a little jerking motion which wasn’t as good as it had been the last time.  Still she felt it and she reacted.  He understood that she hadn’t been keeping up with her physical therapy at home since having to give up her throne.  Putting the feather in his breast pocket he took a sharp needle from it and started to poke the sole of her foot.  He did it again and again even though he kept getting the same disappointing result. She felt the pressure in her foot just as she felt something gliding along it a few moments ago but from the look on her face she didn’t know what the objects were. She couldn’t tell the difference between a tickle and pain. It was possible that nerve damage was rearing its ugly head. “You should exercise a little more.” He said in a voice which was more demanding than suggestive.  “Keep your head turned.” Randy repeated the process with the feather and needle all the way up her leg and then her arm. Putting the items away for the last time he punched in some notes on a hand-held computer. “Gonna take you over to the bars and get you up now, ok?”

What choice have I got?  Calla thought but couldn’t express and sat quietly in her wheelchair on the short ride to the parallel bars.

“Think you can get up on your own?” He locked the wheelchair into place.

She looked up at him with glaring droopy eyes.

“Come on, give it a try. I’m right here.”

Knowing she was going to fall flat on her face she wasn’t very anxious to comply but Randy just stood there staring down at her and he was very good at these little staring contests. They could this for the next fifteen minutes or more and nothing would change. If her falling down would make him happy so be it.  Calla reached out for the left bar with her strong hand and the right one with her weak one. Hoisting the left half of her body out of the chair wasn’t exactly a piece of cake but would still be easy enough if the right half would just comply!  The upper half of her left side rising nicely she planted her good foot onto the floor and tried to push upward the left side rose higher while the unhinged right side just sort of flopped around.   Trying to get more strength in her right arm and planting the right foot on the floor she pulled as hard as she could and was quite the sight. Randy and David bought suppressed the urge to laugh at her plight and struggle as she stood there looking like some Looney Tunes character in a particularly humorous predicament with her butt jutting out behind her and her arms stretched out in front of her. Just before Randy could tell her that was enough and to stop Calla popped all of the way out of the wheelchair like a champagne cork and went stumbling forward.  Suddenly the moment was no longer funny as both men reached out for her to keep her from crashing to the ground.  The bad foot slid forward first and the knee buckled, she tilted hard to the right but her left hand didn’t let go of the bar and she had enough strength to bring herself back to center and adjust her weight to her good leg.  Looking over her shoulder she shot Randy a look would have killed him where he stood if such things were lethal, she blew a few pieces of white hair away from her face.

“Very good,” Randy encouraged.

“You ok, Sunshine?” David asked and put an arm around her waist to keep her steady. He was a bit miffed at the therapist who should have moved a little faster.

“Steady now?” Randy asked in a rough voice which told David he wanted him to let her go.  “Take a step.”

“Ya know, I think maybe just gettin’ up like that was enough for her right now.”

“Is that right, Calla?”

Oh she hated that voice! Sven used that damn voice too…that…that…that holier than thou….do what I tell you to….I dare you….annoying freakin’ VOICE!  Determined not to let him win she shrugged David off and got a better hold on the bars. Two steps that was all he was going to get which was one more than he asked for.  Settling her weight in her hips like Nicholas taught her she put the left foot forward with no problem and then did her best to pick up the right because Randy wouldn’t be happy if she didn’t actually pick it up!, but wasn’t able to manage it. Instead she slid it forward and watched the disapproving glance in his eyes.  Fine. One more.  Calla picked up the left foot and settled it down in front of her, she concentrated very hard on the right foot and knee willing it to bend and the foot to rise.  The knee bent slightly and the foot rose the same but then only fell backward so that her toes dragged the ground when she tried to bring it forward.  The look on Randy’s face was better and that meant the game was over.  Rather than motioning for her chair Calla just let go of the bars and plopped to the floor.

“That’s it, huh? That’s all I’m gonna get out of you?”

She gave one single emphatic nod.

“You know, I’m only trying to help.” Randy said in that same damn haughty voice. “But if you don’t want to comply there isn’t much I can do.”  He unlocked and then pushed the wheelchair toward her, locking the wheels once more he stood back from it. “But since you’re done and all you can get yourself back in the chair and then we’ll check out your arm.”  Randy walked several steps away and motioned for David to do the same.

David didn’t feel good about leaving Calla there on the floor by herself and he didn’t understand why the man was being so cruel to her. Surely he could see that she wasn’t going to be able to accomplish the task!  While he didn’t jump to help her he didn’t leave her side either. Like it or not, if she fell then he wanted to be right here to catch her.

That little prick! Who does he think he is!  Calla fumed as she sat on the floor. Jackass! It’s a damn good think I’m not paying you!  If David hadn’t been standing there she’d have done her best to wait Randy out this time. Just sat there and done nothing at all.  But David was here and he was looking at her with grave concern.  After several moments Calla grunted and turned over onto her left side using the chair for leverage she pulled herself up, sat down and then put the blanket back over her legs before sticking her tongue out at Randy.

“Cute,” Randy remarked, “but you did it.”  Her strength and stubbornness were still on track and those were good signs.  She was supposed to sleep tonight so this little work out would help her do that.  Calla couldn’t roll herself over to the therapy table that was out of the question so he rolled her over there, locked the wheels and told her to get into the chair.

“Don’t you do anything but give her orders?” David barked.

“Yes, I’m helping her to be as independent as possible again, Mr. Jackson.” Randy returned.  “If she can do something for herself then she should do it.”

“It isn’t easy for her, can’t you see that?”

“It isn’t supposed to be.” Randy countered.  “What are you waiting for?” He asked Calla.

At home she was always fighting for more independence, well, up until lately that was.  Since she was forced to leave the throne she was much more content to let other people do things for her. After all if they wanted her to be old and feeble and to wait on her….then why the hell not?

Stop feeling sorry for yourself!

Daniel’s voice rang in her head.

She could do this. It was easier than taking steps or getting from the floor to the chair.  Calla leaned forward, grabbed hold of the bolted down chair and slid from one seat to the other before placing her weak arm on the table.

“Well, aren’t ya gonna….yeah there it is.” Randy cracked when her tongue came out from between her lips once more. “You’re a real peach, ya know that?”

Calla pretended not to hear him and complied nicely as they went through a series of twisting her fingers, bending her elbow and wrenching her shoulder in what Randy termed ‘therapy’.  When all was done Randy sat back and made notes on his hand-held computer before telling her that she needed to resume her therapy at home and if Nicholas was going to be away for a while then they needed to hire someone right away. As he spoke David looked at his watch again and wondered if anyone had heard from Danny. 

“She done here?”

“Yeah, we’re done.”

David wheeled her back to the room where she thought she was staying for the night only to be told that she was actually spending the night in the observation room which was down the hall.  The scanner bed was hard and cold and terribly uncomfortable she wasn’t looking forward to trying to sleep there no matter how much dust Morpheus sprinkled on her.  “I’m gonna go find us something cold, ok, Sunshine?” David asked when he had her settled into the uncomfortable bed.  A cold drink sounded very good and she watched him walk off hearing him tell someone that ‘she’s in there’.  A few moments later all the UPs, other than Ollie and Chantel, appeared in the doorway.

“We just wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing.” Morgan said to her.  Calla nodded and shrugged her shoulders.  “We’re all done now and everything went very well,” she chimed and smiled wide.  Now Calla nodded with more enthusiasm and took Morgan’s hands.  “We wanted to let you know that we’re not going home tonight.”

That was news. Calla looked past Morgan to the others gathered in her room. Surely they weren’t going to stay here.

“We’ve got hotel rooms,” Duncan said happily, “they’ve decided they want to have a look around Colorado Springs.”

They were going out into the outer world tonight. That was wonderful!  Now it was Calla’s turn to give them a beaming—if crooked—smile.  Oh but what about…. Calla held her good arm up as high as she could and then puffed out her chest and her cheeks.

“Ollie and Chantel?” Duncan asked. “Don’t worry, we’ve got accommodations for them too.  When you wake tomorrow we’ll be here to take you home.”

“Sleep well, my darling, Daughter.” Morgan said before brushing a kiss on Calla’s cheek and bringing the blankets around her.  “Duncan and I will keep a good eye on them, don’t worry.”

She wasn’t worried she was thrilled!  Elrond and his wife had never seen the outside world as far as Calla knew and the last time Fiona did so had to have been four hundred years ago.  They were getting adventurous and that was good.  She blew them all kisses and watched them go off on their way to explore the town.

While David did come across two cold cans of Coke he also went to find Sam and Annie and upon doing so was told what he already knew.  No one had heard from Danny and they couldn’t make contact through the Stargate because every time they tried to dial Sengul all they got was…nothing.  The last chevron refused to lock into place. Annie was beside herself with worry and so was Sam but each was doing their best to keep a positive attitude, after all it could be nothing but a glitch.

“Or they could be stuck there.” David said flatly.  “How long until you know for sure?”

“We keep trying every twenty minutes,” Sam explained worriedly, “if we don’t reach them by morning I’ll have to send a ship after them.” Samantha Carter wasn’t just colonel Carter anymore and hadn’t been for a long time.  She was General Carter and when her husband, General O’Neill wasn’t around she was in command of the SGC and their safety fell squarely on her shoulders.  She felt every bit of that weighted frustration. Everything had been fine when they left. All was quiet. There was nothing wrong with their arrival. In short there was no reason they couldn’t make contact unless the Senguls had been able to deactivate the Stargate on their end.

“That could take months.” David gasped and regretted not being able to control his mouth when Annie turned her face away and covered it with her hands.

“Yeah, it could.” Sam agreed in a hopeless tone.  “We’re also trying to find out if anyone’s in the vicinity that could maybe pick them up or at least find out what’s going on.”

David couldn’t help but feel for both women, their husbands were lost out there somewhere along with Danny. “I’m sure we’ll hear from ‘em soon,” he said and tried to sound encouraging, “but in the meantime let’s not tell Callie until tomorrow there’s nothing she can do anyway.” He felt just awful saying that when it was so obvious the women in front of him were suffering every bit as much as Calla would be if she knew but he was here to protect her and her interests and that was just what he was going to do. “I mean, if ya really want her to sleep and all.” He added hoping it would soothe Sam and Annie to a small degree.

“Sure,” Sam said.

Annie just walked off. She didn’t say anything that was understandable though it was fairly clear she was muttering something under her breath.  She hated to admit it but there were times when Calla was a pain in her ass.  Nick wasn’t any better, he didn’t have to go on this trip and she knew it.  It would serve him right if he was stuck there forever and never came back.

An hour later, at the stroke of mid-night Colorado Springs time Morpheus appeared in the observation room.  Back home in Altair Ain it was nearly dawn and Calla had gone a full day without sleeping she should be good and tired by now.  “Ready?”

Annie walked in. “Just a minute,” she attached little diodes to the sides of Calla’s head and to her heart.  “We’re going to move you and scan you a few more times while you sleep but you won’t know a thing.” As usual, she wanted to add but didn’t.

“You two step back,” Morpheus advised when Annie stood up again. “Don’t take any deep breaths.”  The transparent hand belonging to the King of Dreams reached into a transparent black pouch and pulled out a pinch of Dream Dust.

“It’s the same stuff as last time, right?” David asked before Morpheus could sprinkle it on Calla.

“Yes, only the best for you, my dear.” He said with a grin.  “You will have the sweetest of dreams, I promise.”

Calla was ready to sleep perhaps when she woke Daniel would have returned and they could all go home together.  She closed her eyes, David and Annie backed up a few steps and a turned their heads while Morpheus sprinkled the glittering dust on Calla.  As the dust settled on her and then disappeared she fell into a deep sleep.  “You will let me know the results of your tests, won’t you?” Morpheus asked.

“Yeah,” Annie said watching the old woman on the bed drift off to sleep.  They might need him again if this showed promise.  “Right now you can both go home, she’s going to sleep for several hours, right?”  Morpheus nodded his agreement.

David took a seat. “I’m staying right here until she wakes up.”

Calla did sleep straight through the night and well into the next morning. She was never aware that she was moved several times during the night and wheeled down the hall, placed in the scanner and then brought back to her room.  Dreaming deeply she wasn’t bothered by the people in the observation room who constantly stared down at her (and David) while they watched their monitors and scribbled on their note pads. Through it all, just as he promised, David didn’t leave her side.  Long about 3 am Colorado time she started to dream. They had just come back from the first scan and the technicians finished putting the electrodes on her head once more and she started to move on the scanner bed. Soon after she started to moan and then moan a bit deeper. Sitting beside her David blushed. The sound could only mean one thing when it came from her throat from which now came a small sigh and the rushed sucking of air.  He cast his eyes upward to the glass panel and the people behind it, her brain waves must be showing something because they were pointing at their monitors and chatting away up there. Good thing those things didn’t show what she was actually dreaming if they did then David thought there’d probably be some type of use of the nearest broom closet.  Feeling the flush of heat in his face which radiated through his whole body he smiled at her looked at her.  The girl might be old on the outside but under the mass of gray/white hair she was just sensual and horny as she’d always been.  Wasn’t that a kicker? After all it was an unspoken but fairly well-known fact that Danny hadn’t been taking care of business in that department for several weeks.

Poor Callie.

Whoever she was dreaming about—and in his heart of hearts David hoped it was him—he was doing a bang up job by the sounds of it and the expressions washing over her face. That good leg of hers was sliding up and down on the sheet almost as though it were intertwined with that of her phantom lover.  She kept on cooing and licking her lips until they were moist and kissable. David became aware of the fact that he was sporting one hell of a piece of wood.  If he sat here and listened to her dream any longer that problem was only going to get worse. The people up in the observation room were now blushing and trying not to look directly at the sleeping woman deeply engaged in a very erotic dream.  Down here they could only hear those up there if they pushed the intercom but those up above could hear everything down here without having to do the same.  She wasn’t being shy about the sounds she was making.  Then again, of course, she was dreaming so she couldn’t help it in the least.

Maybe he could use a bathroom break? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea and when he came back from draining the main vein her dream would be over, especially considering he’d have to do a good bit of pushing and angling to get it aimed down at the water.  He’d miss the climax but under the circumstances that was all right.  The bathroom was just next door. David got up and started to walk away, the hard pulsating thing between his legs pushing the front of his blue jeans to their maximum wasn’t making movement easy!  The sounds behind him got louder. Perhaps he moved too late and he wouldn’t miss that crescendo after all. David started to fear if he didn’t get out of her before that then he would climax right along with her, right here in the observation chamber of the SGC in full view of the staff above him.  Keep moving, that’s what he told himself as he fought the urge to look back and instead keep his eyes and mind on the door that was coming closer.

Behind him the dreaming woman climbed higher and higher into the realm of sexual satisfaction—a place she hadn’t visited in a while and so was apt to have a good long stay while she had the chance.  The cold steel of the door met the palm of his hand and David felt relief coming to him, just one more step and he’d be out the door, away from prying eyes and straining ears. At his command the door began to swing open and behind him that heated cooing stopped and she let out a whimper. David’s hot wanton blood turned cold and he looked back over his shoulder.  The blanket was moving…well of course it is, he told himself, her leg is moving…she’s moving.  He looked up at the staff they seemed to be looking at her with open curiosity.  By the bed the little lights and monitors went crazy.

It was that sound, that horrible little sound that drew his attention and made him walk back to her.  She wasn’t moaning and cooing any longer and the expression on her face was far from satisfied.  Though that lovely leg didn’t appear to as though it were sliding around any longer in sexual ecstasy, the blanket over her seemed to breathe with a life of its own as he neared her.

Suddenly, David’s blood wasn’t only thing that was cold now, he felt frozen in ice from head to toe. The air in his lungs so cold it was hard to breathe and flesh of hands burned with a lovely shade of red. Even the tip of his nose tingled. When he exhaled a fine white mist rose from his lips though it had to be seventy degrees in this room. “Get away from her.” David ordered through gritted teeth.

“Who’s he talking to?” A female technician asked her partner. “Do you see anyone?”

“No,” he said puzzled. “I dunno can they, ya know, can they make themselves invisible?”

That was a good question.  The woman, Liz Farley, had been with the SGC for six years and while she wouldn’t say she knew Calla or any of the UPs she had worked on this case for quite a while.  “I don’t think so,” she said as she thought out loud. “I mean, no one ever said anything about invisibility. But she is off the charts…look at that.” She pointed to one of the screen in front of them that was registering and recording Calla’s brainwave activity. The thing spiked and didn’t dip at all.

John Updike, newly hired by the SGC reiterated her question. “So who’s he talking to?”

In the room below David spoke again. “I know you’re here, boy. I said get away from her.”  He couldn’t see Wolfgar but David felt him all right. Whether the boy was fucking around in Calla’s head or he was actually, physically, in this room somewhere David wasn’t sure.  The need to pee had fled and so had the hard on everything in him felt as though it had suddenly been turned ON. David would love to start swinging he didn’t think it would do any good and he’d only end up expending his energy on a lost cause. The blanket wasn’t moving now and Calla was still on the bed but that didn’t mean the boy had gone away only that he was playing opossum somewhere, the frigid air in here attested to that much.

“Mr. Jackson?”

The sound of his name coming through the speakers jolted David and he jumped toward the sound ready to strike before looking up to see the two who had been looking down at him.

Liz spoke again. “You all right, Mr. Jackson?  Whatever it was it seems to have passed now.”

“Seems so, don’t it?” David countered in a voice loud enough to be heard but not enough to wake Calla.  “Get some guards down here.”  He reached down to take Calla’s hand only to find it ice cold…or was it has hand that was cold? Perhaps both?  “It’s ok, Callie, you rest. I’m here.”  Her lips were a lovely shade of pale blue. “Another blanket and turn up the heat.”

A few moments later a sleepy Samantha Carter came into the room after being summoned from her brief nap.  “What’s going on? They told me you want guards.”

“Anybody heard from Danny?” David asked and put the second blanket over Calla. “Yeah, I want guards, two of ‘em at least, right here.”  The temperature in the room had come up a bit but his body still tingled and David didn’t want to take any chances.

“No, not yet.” Sam said in a depressed tone. “What do you want the guards for?” She looked past David to Calla. “She looks fine to me.”

“That boy’s here in body or spirit I don’t know but I know he was in this room.”

“Wolfgar?” The sleep suddenly disappeared from her deep blue eyes. “How would he ever get in here it’s a fortress.”

“He’s an Olympian and any one of them, even lowly immortal me, can just appear anywhere in the SGC at any time without setting off an alarm.” David reminded her.  “Please just station them outside the room, ok, General?”

What could it hurt? “Sure.” Sam muttered and behind her Lieutenant Dyer came into the room and asked her to come with him. There was something he wanted to show her.

With guards outside the door, two observers above and David below the rest of the night passed without incident. The temperature came back to normal, Callie slept on and David even caught a few winks though he fought it as hard as he could. By the time Calla woke up and late morning rolled around David started to convince himself it was just a delusion, a hallucination, brought on by an overtired mind.

In the Gate Room Lieutenant Dyer and his shift partner Lieutenant Sanders showed General Carter something they thought was interesting. “See that spike?” Sanders asked.

“What is it?”

“Some type of seismic activity. It’s almost like Gate activity.” Dyer mused and stared at the spikes on the screen. “It doesn’t last long, it could be a small earthquake.”

“Where does it originate?”

“Some small village in Russia…. Pokrovskoye, Siberia.”

“What did you say? Pokrovskoye?  Zero in on that, I want to know exactly where that epicenter is, do you understand me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Dyer returned and began using the equipment to narrow the scope.  A few moments later he turned to her. “Looks like it’s about five miles outside the village in a wooded area. Bring it up, Sanders.”  On another monitor above them a satellite image of the area appeared.  “Doesn’t look like much, does it, ma’am?”

“Looks can be deceiving.” Sam said.  David said Wolfgar had been in the room tonight, right here in the SGC. What if he had a way to travel between planets and followed them to Sengul?  What if he destroyed the Stargate on the other side so they couldn’t get back? It had to be after all Pokrovskoye was the town the very generous art patron by the name of Gregory Svetlanavitch lived in. That couldn’t be a coincidence. “Stop, wait, go back. What is that? What is it?”

“What, ma’am? Where?” Sanders asked quickly and stopped moving the controls.

“Back. To the left. Back. There!”

On the screen in the middle of the dense forest appeared the remains of an old building. A church of some sort.  “What are the coordinates on that?”

“A perfect match, ma’am.  Perhaps an earthquake destroyed the church.” Dyer suggested.

“No, uh-ah. Look at that. It’s old. It crumbled a long time ago.  Get a team out there. I want to know what’s going on over there and I want to know now.” General Carter ordered.

“Yes, ma’am.” Dyer picked up the phone next to him.

“Dyer, make it a Special Care Team.” Sam said feeling guilty.  If Calla knew such a team existed she’d have such a fit but several years ago the government started looking into scenarios which might possible involve UPs and how to defuse such hypothetical situations.  Considering that at least two of the known offenders; Wolfgar and his mother Raven Lightfoot, were immortal it was best to send in those trained to handle such things.

End of Chapter Forty-One of
Golden Years
by Moon Mistress
a/k/a Lisa Beth Darling
Go to
Chapter Forty-Two