Stargate Force

Chapter 3: The Wheel Turns

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the campsite. Unease gnawed at Sam, her husband's words echoing in her mind. Unable to bear the silence any longer, she walked away, drawn by the unknown depths of the forest. "I don't think I can go through all that again. If the powers I have won't do one damn thing, it will be like Ituor and Hothok had never rescued me."

Hot tears streamed down her face, blurring the world into a lonely expanse. "Alone in the universe," she choked out, a sudden, fierce curse shattering the silence. "I won't allow this to get to me! I'm the Force... dammit! I also know how to deal with this because I have been through it before. Even if the Sontarans have a way to break me, I won't be the host for that bastard!"

The Doctor was in earshot of what she blurted out. When he got close to her, he replied, "Even if the Sontarans have a means of breaking you, it doesn't mean it is the end of your life. What Jack just told me about you being a slave and all you went through, I know you won't break. You stood strong before you realized that the Jedi Knights existed. Right now no one has captured you. Don't allow your emotions to rule you."

She smiled as she wiped her face dry. "I still can't get over how strongly I feel over what my alternate went through. It feels like I was the one that went through all that."

The Doctor sat on the ground opposite of Sam, so he could be face-to-face with her. He asked, "How do you know that it was not you?"

"I know that Brandon trained me as a teenager. Things were different for me."

"Let me ask it this way. Which is more real to you: being trained by Tumok Brugnat or by Brandon Bowers?"

She thought for a moment. She finally said, "When I'm with Tumok, I feel it was him. When I am with Brandon, it is the same." She thought and continued, "when I'm not with either of them, I have to admit, I strongly feel that I am the Master over Brandon, but I feel no connection to Tumok."

"What does Tumok have to do with it? I know that he trained you as a Jedi, but what I'm asking isn't about him. I'm getting you to see in yourself why — you feel they kidnapped, tortured, and felt so frightened beyond all that that alternate had experienced."

She cried. In a crying voice, she said, "When I heard that Jack was missing, I felt all that — whoever — went through so strongly. Now that these Sontarans can put me through all that again..." She just cried.

The Doctor moved closer, so she could cry on his shoulder. When she finally stopped, she said, "Thank you."

"For what you have done for me so many years ago, it is the least I can do for you."

After moving away from the Doctor, Sam smiled, "I can see why the Sontarans want to hit me like this. I thought they would have forgotten all about what I have done to them —— so long ago."

"I am afraid they won't forget. Like the Goa'uld they pass their experiences down to their clones."

Sam sighed, "I remember you telling me that before. Come to think about it, I wonder if they have any relationship with one another?"

"I have no clue. The Sontarans aren't the only clones that passed down their experiences."

"I guess you are right, Doctor."

"They may have some relationship. Time will tell. It always does."

Sam smiled, "I see where Brandon gets that saying."

He just looked at her for a long moment. He finally said, "Right now you need to deal with the here and now... then what has happened."

"Believe me, Doctor, I want to. My past is coming full circle."