Sam sat near the fire pit inside the cave where the Cimmerians and the SG-1 team had taken refuge from Heru-ur's guards. They were waiting for Jack and Teal'c to rejoin them from their reconnoiter of the Goa'uld activities on the planet. She observed the others around her. Daniel and Gairwyn were talking in one corner. There were children with them but only a couple of boys ventured this near the cave entrance. She had the feeling the other children were staying with their mothers close to the inner recesses of the cave, away from any immediate harm. A group of men sat across from her in a circle, and it looked like they were holding a secret meeting. The women kept their dwelling tidy and organized.
The fire danced from the occasional strong breeze sweeping inside their temporary sanctuary. The quivering shadows shifted her attention away from Cimmerians.
Busying herself, she took out the Goa'uld ribbon device from her pack. Sam had been subduing her curiosity for the past hour. She was torn between apprehension which came from experiencing Jolinar's unexpected yet faint memories and from the excitement of discovering this marvelous find to use against the Goa'uld. The scientist in her started to take over. All she wanted to do now was give the instrument another test run. She made her decision.
Sam slowly inserted the five-fingered golden tips onto her left hand. Her mind hadn't stopped replaying the image of what had happened at Kendra's gravesite. The memory made her pulse throbbed faster.
She had been surprised to be able to produce the deadly beam without experiencing any form of heat from the instrument. Sam could feel her heart beat a little faster from the anticipation of making it work again.
A little while later with the tips snugly on her fingers, Sam flexed her fingers again to see if there were changes. She could tell the device fit her hand well. Then, she turned her hand again, palm facing upward and saw how the round device nestled delicately at the middle of her palm. She let her gaze travel along the fine gold lines of the device that wrapped her hand.
A wave of astonishment enveloped her, realizing the contradiction where the Goa'uld had developed a beautiful yet deadly instrument. Sam raised her arm half way and found the device was light to handle.
'Okay, now, Gairwyn said to concentrate,' she thought. She let her arm remain poised and pointed the round emitter at the small pile of stones near her. She began to visualize an image of a beam shooting down at the pile of stones.
Something stirred inside her but the memory was very faint, as if she was hallucinating. Sam tried bringing the image closer to her conscious mind using the techniques she learned during her under-grad studies in psychology. However, the image of vaporized stones did not become a reality. Fifteen minutes passed, Sam lowered her arm and released a frustrated sigh. She rubbed her temples. It was more difficult than she thought. She turned her head away just as she saw the colonel and Teal'c re-entering the cave with Olaf behind them. From the colonel's grim expression, she knew they would be having 'visitors' soon.
Sam removed carefully the ribbon device and placed it in her backpack. She would have to practice when they reached Earth after this mission. 'If they would get back,' she thought.
Taking in the unwavering expression of her CO's face, she resolutely took in her position, ready for the upcoming fight.'When they would get back,' she corrected herself.
Author’s Note: Thank you, Corine and Debbie for your wonderful suggestions and pointers.
© November, 2003 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.