Chapter 12
They exited the Stargate as they had entered it, weapons drawn and alert. Sam, feeling somewhat more comfortable with the situation, motioned for the team to fan out and make sure the area was secure. Out of habit, she walked over to inspect the DHD and her heart stopped upon seeing what was there beside it. She hurriedly crouched down beside the prone form of her father.
"Janet! Janet, come here, quick!" she shouted, moving to cradle his head in her lap. "Dad?" she asked him softly as she heard Daniel, Leske, and Janet running toward her. Jacob opened his eyes, grunting as she jarred him slightly.
"Sam?" he said, looking up at her, grimacing in pain.
"I'm here, Dad. God, what happened?"
"Damn! Sorit? Are you alright?" Leske demanded as she knelt down next to Sam. Sam let her eyes wander from her father's face to that of the woman beside her, her jaw dropping in confusion. She was so lost. Was this man her dad, or wasn't he? She honestly didn't know.
"Sorit?" Sam asked the man, looking down again at his familiar face. He nodded slightly as Janet swung into doctor mode to look over his wounds. Sam let her own concerns fade into the background and let her friend work.
"Staff blast to the lower back, from what I can tell. It's bad. I… I don't have anything with me… I'm sorry, there's just nothing I can do," Janet said, shaking her head with regret.
Daniel circled around the huddled group and crouched down beside Sam, putting a hand on her shoulder. Sorit began to quietly laugh to himself as Leske tenderly took his hand. "What's so funny?" she asked, sniffling and fighting back tears.
"I just can't believe the bastard had me shot. You were right, Leske. I should have listened to you."
"It's alright, Sorit. Don't worry about a thing, okay?"
Sorit nodded and swallowed hard, wetting his lips. "Sam?"
"I… I'm here. I'm right here," she responded, not really knowing what to do. She had her hands on both of his shoulders and he reached his free hand up to take one of them. He grasped it firmly and squeezed. Sam couldn't help but let a few tears fall… it just felt too much like she was watching her father die.
"Sam, I'm so sorry. Over the months… I've come to love you like my own daughter, Sam. Can you ever forgive me?"
Sam looked back to Daniel, seriously confused. Forgive him for what? How many months had he been… what? *Pretending* to be her father? This man… Sorit… was someone she didn't even know. Daniel nodded imperceptibly to her, and hoping to at least make his last moments a little more bearable, Sam nodded down to Sorit. He smiled back.
"Jacob Carter must be very proud of you." She smiled at that, and continued holding his hand.
"Sorit," asked Sam quietly. "Where are the Colonel and Teal'c? Did you go to the village?"
Sorit shook his head. "No. We followed the rock formations to a Jaffa camp southwest of here. It's not far…" he said, his words dissolving into a fit of coughs that wracked his frame. Sam held onto his shoulders trying to steady him until the coughing stopped.
Sorit quieted and stilled and Leske squeezed the hand she was holding. "Sorit?" she asked softly. "*Sorit*!" she demanded again, receiving no response. Then the image of Jacob Carter disappeared and was replaced by a dark haired, kindly looking older man with bright green eyes that were still open. As she heard Leske choke back a sob, Sam shuddered and fell gracelessly backward in surprise.
Daniel caught her and held her by the shoulders as she tried to bring her breathing back under control. This was just too much. In a corner of her mind, this whole thing was beginning to feel oddly familiar…
Leske reached over Sorit's face and closed his eyes with her fingers before slowly and silently rising to her feet. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she opened her eyes with a snap, emotion finally flooding over her as shock dissipated.
"You…" she said, darkly and quietly to Daniel and Sam. "You! This is all *your* goddamn fault!" she screeched, pointing at them in accusation. Daniel stood up to confront her. "Sorit's dead, Ronar's betrayed me, now… ha! Now *I* get to die, too! How the hell's *that* for convenience! Why did I even bother with you people? Now you're gonna die anyway… I should have just minded my own goddamn business! You people can all go to hell, for all I care! Just leave me out of it!!!!" she screamed.
Daniel patiently allowed her to finish her tirade before starting one of his own. His patience was pretty much gone by that point. Even *he* had his limits.
"*Our* fault? Our fault! Jesus, do you have a skewed perspective! *We* wouldn't even be *on* this godforsaken planet if it wasn't for you! You brought all this on yourself, Leske! How *dare* you start blaming us for this after what your people put *us* through! My God, I mean-,"
"ENOUGH!" Sam screamed at the arguing pair, effectively cutting Daniel off. They both turned to stare at her, startled. She was standing up, her arms held tightly to her sides, her hands balled into tight fists. Any sadness that had been showing on her face had been altogether replaced by confusion and anger.
"You! Both of you! Shut the hell up and *please* explain to me what the *hell* is going on here!" she shouted. Daniel and Leske blinked and exchanged glances. Daniel took a deep breath.
"Sam, you might want to sit down," said Daniel, and she gave him a glare that made him wince, but she sat down with Janet on the ground a good several yards away from Sorit's body.
"Just how much time do you think we have here, Daniel?" Leske asked in a tone of mock-sweetness as he moved to join Sam and Janet. She had her hands on her hips and a stone-cold expression on her face. Daniel just shook his head and ignored her, as he sat down. She huffed in exasperation and rolled her eyes as she began pacing, but Daniel really didn't notice.
"Sam?" he began. "Do you remember about a year ago when we were helping the Tok'ra to evacuate Vorash?" She nodded. "Well, our first mission back, after Bratac helped us deprogram Teal'c, we gated to a planet, completed our mission… but we never really gated to PX8904, nor home. We only thought we did. The last year… none of it was what it appeared to be." Daniel sat back and studied her face, searching for a reaction.
Sam just stared at him, mouth agape. They both just sat there for a moment, motionless, until Sam's face contorted into a pinched expression of deep thought. Daniel could tell that she was simply absorbing this new information, probably going over events in her head, trying to catalogue her memories into what she knew had been real, and what was questionable.
"Sam, from what I've been able to piece together, the planet that we gated to… PX8904, uh, Carcel… they had this…well…"
"The chamber we keep our gate in is equipped with an extensive network of holographic generators. At first, it was our way of dissuading unwelcome visitors through our gate… a defense mechanism, but it… evolved." Daniel smiled and nodded to Leske as she sat down with the rest of the group, finally choosing to contribute.
"So, you're saying that we've been living in a…a *holographic environment* for the past year?" Sam asked incredulously. Daniel, Leske, and Janet nodded to her solemnly. "But, it was so *real*! How were they able to get everything so right? Let alone know things…" she trailed off, again, probably running scenarios in her head. Daniel smiled shyly. He was happy to see her looking so much like herself again. Thinking so hard.
"They implanted chips in your brains that were linked to their computers. They used their technology to pull memories in order to build… *that*," Janet spat. "They were also able to use the devices to alter your behavior… they could mess with your body chemistry by telling your brain to release certain hormones or enzymes…"
"Like puppets on strings," Sam whispered slowly, her eyes downcast and shoulders slumped. Suddenly, her eyes widened as a very unsettling thought struck her. "Are these… neurofilter things… are they able to read what we're thinking right now?"
Leske shook her head. "No. No, that would just be too much information for the system to handle… constant back and forth flow of so much data… All they can do at this point, is *input* certain information into your brains. Little things, like Janet mentioned. Any new information that Talin gets, at this point, comes only from the cameras."
Sam stood up slowly and absently brushed off her pants, casting her gaze toward the rock formations, bathed in the pinkish-orange light of the sunset. "The Colonel and Teal'c… they don't know any of this, do they? They think it's all real."
Leske rose to join her. "Well, for all intents and purposes, it is real. We may still be in the Environment, but," she leaned down and picked up a rock. "It's all still very real. We can still get hurt… still die."
"Oh, there's not a chance in hell," Sam said, her voice strong and loud as she took the stone from Leske and threw it as hard as she could at the sunset. "Let's move out kids. Two of our people are out there, and we're sure as hell gonna find them."