DISCLAIMER: Some other lucky beggar owns the characters. Sorry for treading on any toes
SERIES: Follows on from Chocolate, Huh? and Strawberries and Cream, Huh?
NOTE: The idea of buoyancy was summed up by Archimedes, a Greek mathematician, in what is known as Archimedes' Principle: Any object, wholly or partly immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.
DEDICATION: To my beta crew as always, and to Jo for the suggestion of scientific mumbo jumbo working wonders <G>)
SPOILERS: The Changeling.
Archimedes Principle, Huh?
By Debbie
Major Samantha Carter was deep in thought. Beside her sat Jonas Quinn, Kelownan refugee to earth and now accepted member of Stargate Command. Jonas himself wasn't sure he was an accepted member of SG1 as yet. The major and the alien man were attempting to analyze an artifact brought back from a mission many months before. Lack of time and more important missions had meant they were only just getting around to the task in hand.
As it was, Teal'c was still recovering following the loss of his symbiote a few weeks before, so the members of SG1 were on a much-needed break from missions through the Stargate. Instead they were undertaking more mundane, but just as important, aspects of their overall mission.
While, Jack O'Neill was spending his well-earned period of downtime fishing, Sam and Jonas were taking the time to get to know each other better, both personally and professionally, while working on the artifact. Sam was beginning to realize how important Jonas was to the team. Sure, she missed Daniel Jackson greatly, but the Kelownan was more than an able replacement. The young man was gradually becoming more familiar with the shifting ancient dialects that they encountered. This of course had been Daniel's specialty. Jonas' specialty had turned out to be an inborn knack for gaining the trust and friendship of all he met. Truth be known, Sam envied him that ease of sociability.
For that reason alone, the major was enjoying this period of relative inactivity. As well as getting to know Jonas in a more relaxed manner, she was finding time to catch up with her best friend, Janet Fraiser, and their daughter Cassandra. Many years previous, Sam and Janet had enjoyed a brief but very intense affair, the sort of affair that only young, free, and single participants engage in. It had been an affair of sex, fun, experimentation and more sex. Thinking of this now, the major gave a wry smile. How times changed. Like many affairs shared by young people it had fizzled out as they were posted to opposite ends of the country
On realizing they had been posted to the same project, Janet as the SGC's CMO and Sam as the resident expert on Stargate travel, they had agreed to treasure their past but to forge a deep friendship rather than renew the love affair. The two captains, as they then were, had become firm friends, and their union was cemented further with the arrival of Cassandra, the young alien girl that had become their daughter. In these intervening years Sam had discovered Janet had been married and divorced, while Janet learned Sam had had a disastrous engagement to a certain despotic Jonas Hanson. These two facts, along with the ever-present threat of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy sent their earlier connection to the deep recesses of their brains.
Grinning to herself, Sam conjured up the cozy picture of family life she had "endured" the night before. The 3 ladies had shared a Chinese take-away, a few glasses of wine, and a "chick-flick", before retiring to bed with a good book before 11pm. 'Happily married couple' was the phrase that came to mind these days.
Lost in her thoughts of Janet, Sam did not hear the distinct ping from her laptop, telling her there was an incoming email. Feeling Jonas twitch, she glanced up to see a look of consternation on his face. Checking her computer screen, she could not see any problems with the data scrolling across it, so, not knowing the problem, she asked quizzically, "What?"
"Sam, it's only a piece of Anwarian technology. I am sure it will wait a second while you check your email," was Jonas's bemused reply. "It never ceases to amaze me how you Earthlings become so engrossed in matters of little personal consequence, while forgetting things that may be of utmost importance. What if that email is from your long lost lover?"
Seeing Sam's scowl the hapless alien jumped in with both feet again, "Hey! I'm only joking here. What if it's something to do with work? I didn't mean to imply anything. I'm not being nosey or anything. You know me, I just."
"JONAS! Shut up! I didn't take offence. I was just miles away. Let's have a look shall we?" Sam interrupted.
"OK, Sam. Sorry. It's just when I get an email, I look straight away. I always hope it's some invitation or something. It gets kinda lonely miles away from home with no friends and family. It seems you are not as in need of friends as I am. You prefer to be alone"
Leaving Jonas to ramble on Sam zoned out again. Alone? Maybe once that was what she had craved. But now? Never! All she wanted now was to spend time with Janet. During Teal'c's illness, Janet had initiated a resumption of their earlier affair. Only now, with their maturity, there was the added frisson of love entering the equation. Samantha Carter was in love with Janet Fraiser and there was no way she ever wanted to be alone again. Ever.
Feeling a little guilty, Sam made a mental note to suggest to Janet that they invite Jonas around for dinner, sooner rather than later. Looking at her friend, Sam said, "Jonas! Stop it. You have friends."
Jonas laughed. "So, are you going to open that email or what?"
Sam joined in with the laughter and, saluting mockingly, she murmured, "Sir! Yes Sir!"
Clicking on 'retrieve messages' she immediately saw it was indeed from her lover. She stopped as her hand went to the keyboard, what if this was one of Janet's quirky little love notes she had recently started sending. True, they were few and far between, but, wary as they were of their relationship being discovered by the wrong people, they often contained cryptic little messages that only Sam could understand.
"Major Carter!" This time it was Jonas who spoke firmly. "Dr Fraiser needs help. It could be important."
Startled, Sam saw that the email header said, 'I need help!'
Her heart jumping into her mouth, she quickly decided this was far more important than Jonas reading one of her cryptic emails and she opened it up.
She looked at Jonas and they shared a knowing smile. If Sam had been into analyzing human feelings she might have wondered what it was Jonas was knowing. As it was she just laughed and said, "It seems my friendship only extends as far as my scientific knowledge."
Smiling ruefully, Jonas replied, "I don't think so, Major Carter, I don't think so. Tell me, can you help her? What is this Archimedes' Principle? It is something I know nothing about. Please enlighten me."
The artifact long forgotten, Sam racked her brains. The intelligent astrophysicist struggled to dredge up any memories of Archimedes. She could only remember one thing and that wasn't enough. "Jonas, don't ever tell Janet this, but I don't know anything about that principle. All I can remember is, he supposedly jumped out of his bath naked and ran down the street shouting, 'Eureka! I've got it.' It's something to do with water, but what, I can't remember. It's obviously not the sort of thing an astrophysicist needs to know, or if it is, I have long forgotten it."
They again shared a laugh, happy in the companionship that had grown between them.
Jonas said, "That is not good, major. Don't worry though. One of the first things Teal'c taught me was that the World Wide Web held all the answers. I thought he meant some fangled Stargate theory, but he didn't, did he?"
They entered Archimedes' Principle into the search engine. While awaiting the results, they shared another chuckle as Jonas said this was googling, and, in no time at all, Sam had remembered the Archimedes' Principle.
After letting Janet know her answer was an affirmative to the dinner invitation, the major tried to teach Jonas about it, in easy words that Cassie might understand. "In physics, the Archimedes' Principle states that the weight of the liquid displaced by a floating body is equal to the weight of the body. The principle is often stated in the form 'an object totally or partially submerged in a fluid displaces a volume of fluid that weighs the same as the apparent loss in weight of the object which, in turn, equals the upwards force, or upthrust, experienced by that object."
Seeing Jonas's confused face, the scientist thought she had better be able to put this more simply before her teaching session with Cassie. She tried again, "Let's just say, if you get in a bath full of water, the water rises an amount proportionate to your weight. If I got in the same bath water, the water would rise a different amount proportionate to my weight. If we measure..."
Jonas's confusion was replaced by peals of laughter, "Why, Sam. I didn't know you wanted to share a bath with me."
Blushing profusely Sam Carter mumbled something about that wasn't what I meant and you know it.
Jonas ignored her, "I get the drift, I think. Cassandra Fraiser is a very lucky lady. Not only does she have a most gorgeous mom, but she has a most intelligent 'Papa'."
Only hearing her lover classed as gorgeous, the tall woman snapped back, a little too quickly, "Gorgeous? Doctor Fraiser?"
Feeling comfortable with Sam, Jonas teased back, "Why, major, I think you are sounding a little jealous. Doctor Fraiser is more than gorgeous, and you know it. Perhaps you should try out your bath example with her later tonight. I think that would more than prove the theory to young Cassie. Dominic might get a little thrill though."
Blushing crimson once again, Sam muttered, "Jonas! Stop it, right now! I'm going to find Janet. Are you coming or staying here?"
Leaving Jonas to finish his work, Sam left the lab. Glancing backwards with a grin, she shouted, "And what do you mean, 'Papa'?"
Later that night as she drove over to Janet's house Sam thought back over her pleasant morning with Jonas Quinn. The more she thought about their conversation, the more she realized there had been hints that Jonas knew of her burgeoning relationship with Dr Janet Fraiser. The more she thought, the less she cared.
Subconsciously, Sam had decided if the guys found out, they found out. She, nor Janet, were going to broadcast the fact they were together, but neither were they going to fully hide the new intensity in their relationship. 'Don't ask, Don't tell' worked in two ways after all. As long as they were ultra careful in their professional lives, Sam reasoned that their personal lives were just that, personal. Sam thought that Teal'c and Jonas already had a clue, as for the colonel she thought maybe not. Of course, if Jack O'Neill ever saw what was staring him in the face, he might be the one to have a hard time with the discovery.
That said, she thought back over Janet's email. It was almost too normal to be from Janet and she had a sinking feeling that maybe she had missed something. Was there after all a hidden message in the words? The more Sam was falling for the diminutive doctor the more Sam realized how devious the good doctor could be.
The major knew it contained none of their previous code phrases. If it was a new one it was beyond Sam. Thinking back, the only odd piece of news was that Dominic was back from his vacation. Why did Sam need to know that fact? Suddenly it clicked. Dominic. Cassandra. Wednesday. Roller-blading. Wednesday night was the only weeknight Janet allowed Cassandra to spend with Dominic. In return for this night off from studying Cassandra concentrated wholeheartedly to achieve the results needed to aim for college. Tonight was Wednesday.
Sam's heart sank. Looking down at her comfortable jeans and t-shirt, she suddenly wondered if she might be a little under-dressed. Whatever, it was too late. She pulled into the Fraiser's driveway and parked carefully. As she did so there was the unbidden thought of this being her home.
Entering the house she was immediately met by an eerie silence. Considering she had been expecting Janet, Cassandra and Dominic, this was not a good sign. Passing through the kitchen, seeing that Cassie's roller-blades were missing, and that there was a gorgeous smell of sweet, spicy Thai curry, she amended that thought, maybe this was indeed a good sign. It appeared she and her lover had a night to themselves.
In the lounge there was the pleasant sound of Dido coming from the stereo system and the lights were dimmed nice and low. A flutter of excitement gripped her; this was looking more and more like one of Janet's surprises. But still, there was no sign of Janet.
Suddenly the proverbial light bulb switched on. 'Archimedes' Principle'! Chuckling to herself she changed direction immediately, thinking Janet was indeed getting more devious. Sure enough, on reaching the bathroom door, she heard the sultry voice of her lover singing along to the current Dido track. It was a little known fact that Janet Fraiser had a wonderful singing voice; a voice that Sam never tired of listening to. As she quietly did now.
When the track finished Sam quietly called out, 'Janet? Are you in there?'
Janet's gentle voice replied, "Hey Hon! What time do you call this? I'm beginning to look like a prune."
Laughing out loud, the tall blonde opened the bathroom door and peeked her head around. An amazing sight greeted her, Janet Fraiser was reclining in the sunken tub, surrounded by bubbles, glowing candles and sipping a glass of wine. Sam was enraptured. This woman whom she was falling more and more in love with each day was waiting for her. Smelling the aroma of Vanilla and Jasmine, Sam thought this was now their scent, and a wonderful feeling of light-headedness hit her. Slowly licking her lips, she croaked, "Jeez, Janet! Has anyone ever told you, you are gorgeous?"
A big smile crossed Janet's face as she teased, "Everyday my big strong major, everyday. But no-one that knows all there is to know about the Archimedes' Principle."
Perplexed Sam could only mutter, "Huh? What?"
Seeing Janet's beckoning finger Sam went like the moth to the flame. Slowly she approached the reclining brunette, until all she could see were the dark eyes, nearly black with desire, boring into her own. Goosebumps appeared on the taller woman's arms, as she was pulled down into a deep, warm, welcoming kiss, a sudsy hand tangling fingers in through the blonde locks.
Janet murmured against her mouth, "Sam, has anyone ever told you, your voice and scientific mumbo jumbo go together like peaches and cream?"
Again, Sam's coherent reply stretched to, "No. No-one. Not ever."
"Well, I'm telling you. I would kill all the Goa'uld in this universe, and probably every other universe too, just to hear you teach me 'Archimedes' Principle'," whispered Janet, pulling Sam down into a much more erotic, wanting kiss. Her tongue traced the depths of Sam's mouth, stealing the major's breath and all coherent thought from her mind, as she added the merest whisper, "In here Hon."
The brilliant major was struck dumb. Needing air, and not knowing if she had heard correctly, she pulled away with a raised eyebrow.
Exasperated Janet cried, "Damn it, Sam! Get yourself in here, please. Now!" A devilish smile followed to take away any sting of the words.
Dizzy and uncoordinated the tall woman struggled to lose her clothes. Finally she climbed into the tub, to be immediately pulled into the waiting arms of Janet. Samantha Carter found herself in the unusual position of being cradled by her much smaller lover. Usually, it was Sam herself who had the pleasure of snuggling Janet. The major realized it was a welcome change of events, and she allowed herself to sink into the water, leaning back and resting her head on Janet's wonderful breasts. Sighing contentedly she closed her eyes. Only to feel a nip on her ear from Janet as she whispered, " Archimedes' Principle, Huh?"
As wonderful, intoxicating feelings coursed through the brilliant astrophysicist's body, she struggled to remember all that she had learned earlier in the day. " Archimedes' Principle states that the weight of the liquid displaced…" she began.
Janet's fingers began to work their magic on Sam's body. She stroked up and down Sam's arms and across her overly sensitive abdominals, causing Sam to become more and more incoherent, her voice attaining a huskier, deeper and even more scientific quality, "… which, in turn, equals the upwards force, or upthrust, experienced by that object."
As the magic and the mumbo-jumbo reached a crescendo, the blonde woman pulled Janet's lips to hers. Thrusting her tongue deeply, but gently, into her lover's adoring mouth, Samantha Carter cried out one last word, "Eureka!"
The End