Agent Fox Mulder (i_want_2) wrote in multi_fiction, @ 2008-06-30 03:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | au, het, rated: adult, sg-1, slash |
Fic: Wreck On The Information Highway 3/3 StarGate SG-1
Wreck on the Information Highway
By: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG-1 or any affiliated productions.
Warning: Violence, Language, Character Death.
Rating: Adult Slash.
FeedBack: lopaka_tanu@yahoo.com
Archive: RSD, Area 52, anywhere else ask.
Date: 3:37 PM 7/19/2005
Series: Daniel of Malksur.
Pairing: Mentions of Daniel/Sha're, Jack/Sam, Janet/Ferretti.
Summary: After the unexplainable attack on Nasia, Daniel feels like he is losing his mind. Every corner he turns has him looking over his shoulder. Previously complicated translations now are easier to understand than his own hand writing. Is it paranoia, or is someone really out to get him?
Spoilers/Timeline: Season 2 - In the Line of Duty.
________________________________________
Janet stood by Jack as they watched the techs from Area 51 tie the censors into the security net. Rubbing at the back of her neck, she felt distinctly uneasy about it. There were too many ways this could be exploited in the favor of those who might not have the same noble intentions as the current command staff.
"Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?" Jack shook his head while the techs finished the soldering.
"You're not. I also feel this is over kill, but I don't see any other choice. With the quarantine in place and the lack of power to bring in a scanning device, we can't do our jobs. The fear of being attacked has us all on edge and the general is doing his best." Janet put her hair back over her ear. "Still, I don't trust those men."
"Neither do I." Carter let the bathroom door close behind her, wincing as it brushed against her burned shoulder. Easing herself back in the wheel chair, she yelped. "Man I hate that. How much longer until I can safely leave that bed?"
"Not for two more weeks at the least. If it weren't for Daniel, I wouldn't even let you up now." Janet pushed Sam's hair from her eyes with a smile. "Cassandra asked about you last night. Do you think you will be up for a visit soon?"
"Do you think the general will allow her on base despite the quarantine?" Jack pushed Sam's chair the short distance down the hall to the iso-wards.
"I already have his permission once the Maybournettes are through to bring her. They believe that since she might still have residual traces of Naquadah in her system they will have to assign her one of them damned pass pens. Okay, here we are." Janet pulled out her key card from her pocket and swiped it through the lock. "Don't get too excited Sam, he is very ill and quick to psychosis."
"What do you mean?" Sam frowned at Janet as they entered the ward.
Patting her charge on the shoulder, Janet lead the way. "He gets delusional and forgets who he is. Last night I had to sedate him for trying to attack Major Ferretti. He kept shouting something that didn't make any sense."
Jack waited for her to open the door to Daniel's room. He watched her slide the pass key through the lock and the door start to open. "What was the Major doing here during the black out anyways?"
Before Janet could answer Jack's question, the entire ward rang with the shrill cry of the base alarms. Red lights flashed along side the emergency lights.
"What the hell?" Janet started to head to her office to call the general when the security doors slid shut. "Damn those idiots! I knew something like this would happen." She walked back to the iso-ward, teeth grinding. "I can't get to my office, the security doors have us locked in here."
"That's okay, Janet, we'll just wait it out in here with Daniel." Sam smiled happily at the blinking eyes of her best friend. Reaching out a hand, she carefully cupped his face. "Hey there, sleeping beauty."
"Sam," Daniel asked groggily.
"Yeah, it's me. Don't try to move around too much." She traced a finger over his cheek bone, smiling when he did.
"That feels nice." He frowned at his words. "Not that I am flirting with you or anything. Just, nice."
"It's okay, Daniel, I understood what you meant." Her smile slipped as his eyes lost focus on her and he frowned. "Stay with me, Daniel. I haven't gotten much time to be here. Janet is kinda being a pain about it."
Daniel smiled at her in return, but his eyes refused to maintain a lock on her. "You remind me of her."
"Of who?"
"Rosha." Wincing, Daniel closed his eyes. His head lulled to the right and his breathing came in gasps.
"Daniel." Sam gently prodded him. "Daniel, look at me. Janet, he isn't responding."
"I told you he might not. His conscious periods are becoming fewer and far between." Taking her friend's hand, Janet eased Daniel back under the covers. "Soon he will just stop waking up all together. Once that happens, he will slip into a final coma and then drift off."
"Isn't there anything you can do?" Sam knew it was futile to ask. If there was, Janet would have already tried it and Sam understood that. Forgetting to wait for a response, she glanced about the tables that lined the bed. "What is all this?" She picked up a binder of paper covered in scrawlings. "I don't recognize any of these symbols."
"I think they are Daniel's code. That is his log book, I have been having him write down everything he experienced, from dreams to symptoms." Janet picked up another binder and began to flip through it. "The nurses must have given him others. He spends most of his waking times writing them and ignoring the rest of us."
"Wait a minute." Sam stopped flipping through the pages. Pointing at a long symbol with others inside it, she glanced up at Janet startled. "This is a Stargate address."
"Look, here it is repeated." Janet held up the page and compared it to Sam's. "They are identical."
"Again." Jack, who had been leafing through the stack beside Daniel, held up a page. He grabbed another and another. "Three so far here. The writing on the pages all looks the same. Do you think it is a symptom?"
"No. Repetitive behavior is, but nothing like this." Janet scanned the page repeatedly, marking the complete set of symbols on each of the copies. "I wonder what it says. Do you recognize the gate address?"
Sam shook her head. "No, but I am pretty sure these are goa'uld hieroglyphics. Have you asked him what it means?"
"Yes, but like I said, he ignores us in favor of writing them down." When the all clear sounded, Janet grabbed the journal and headed for the door. "I am going to take this down to the archeology department. Dr. Beltran will know what it means, Daniel taught him enough. You two say your goodbyes and then back to the burn ward."
"All right." Sam waved at Janet as she walked out of the room. Turning back to Daniel, Sam ran a hand through his hair. She gave him a bitter smile and kissed his brow. "Thank you for my life." Letting him go, she sat back in her chair and nodded to Jack.
Jack patted Daniel on the shoulder. Walking back to Sam's chair, he grabbed the handles and wheeled her out of the iso-ward.
Daniel awoke to the sound of the door closing. Blinking, he stared up at the figure at the end of his bed. "They will stop you. Your acts will not go unnoticed."
"What acts? I haven't done a thing." Smiling, the Ash'rak turned and headed back for the door. "Yet."
Daniel tried to reach for the call button. However, lethargy grew too strong for him to resist and he fell back against the bed. Gasping, the inside of his ear twitched. He could hear a rushing sound then all sound was washed away in a tide of white noise. Light headed and dizzy, he closed his eyes against the world and prayed it would be over soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack gritted his teeth against the sound of the alarms going off again. The fifth time in twenty minutes. Evidently the new alarm system was not as fool proof as expected. Two of the last four times had been techs moving Naquadah for testing. One time had been a test gotten out of control and the final time had been Teal'c. He was chasing Cassandra, who had taken his pass pen.
Turning to the General, the JCS Liaison Paul Davis, Maybourne, Janet, and the acting heads of the tech and cultural departments, he growled. "Just how much longer are these screw ups going to continue, Maybourne?"
"I expect them to be finished within the hour. However, accidents do happen, Colonel, and they delay our limited resources while we figure out where it went wrong." Harry's no longer amused expression wasn't helped by his throbbing headache. What had been a chance to be on the front lines was now turning into a complete disaster. "I do not understand why this keeps happening. There must be someone interfering with our work."
"No duh, can we say incompetence and possibly, may be, the Ass Crack?" Jack ignored the snickers of the department heads and glared at his rival. "I don't claim that all of the incidents are their fault, but most of the headaches I have been having lately are."
"And bitching at me to get it done won't accomplish these things any faster!" Stunned silence followed Harry's statement. "Sir."
"I appreciate you are under a great deal of strain. Isn't there any way we can turn them off?" Hammond tried the reasonable approach before he considered just blasting them off the walls. He knew he was going to regret it the moment he contact the Major.
Harry sighed and covered his face with his hand. "With all due respect, General, I have tried. There is no way until they are all deployed. Dr. Myron programmed a fail safe to prevent tampering while they are not connected. Once they are all deployed and the net is activated, we could press a few buttons and they could be turned off for maintenance. But until then, once they were turned on, they had to be protected. We had anticipated sabotage, therefore their individual shut down buttons were all removed."
"Then here's a thought," Jack felt smug in his own inventiveness, "why not turn them all on right now, then turn them off?"
"Because," Harry smarmed back at him in a nasal voice, "they aren't remotely linked. They have to be hard wired. It prevents people from just using a remote and turning it off. This is a security system, it is supposed to be hard to kill." Grumbling, he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, General, but it was necessary. At this point in time, only people with the pass pens can just breeze by through the censors. Anyone else is locked in. If someone had a remote and the Goa'uld got a hold of it, then they could potentially lock us all down and have free run of the base.
"They are linked to prevent tampering of any kind. When they are activated, they will automatically seek out others of their own kind and then work in tandem. It is like cells of a living organism, if they grouped together to form a larger purpose. Damage one, and you alert the rest. They are designed as simple as possible to prevent tampering. There is no possible way to dampen the radiation produced by decaying Naquadah unless you wear six hundred pounds of lead body armor." Shaking his head from delirious laughter, Maybourne sat back and folded his arms. "Now, if you see the tin man from the Wizard of OZ come around the corner, I think a little alarm is going to be the least of your problems."
"Thank you, Major, I am sure we will keep an eye out." Hammond didn't know how he kept a straight face. They were all under stress and it must have finally gotten to him, because he had to get this meeting over before he lost all credibility with his staff. "Now, about this drawing Dr. Jackson did, what can you tell me about it?"
Dr. Beltran stood, his glasses hanging off his droopy features. He lifted a white tufted brow as he scanned his notes and translations. Clearing his throat, he began. "Uh, let me see here. According to this, these were not written by Dr. Jackson at all."
"What do you mean?" Hammond stared wide eyed at the man. "Just who the hell wrote them, Doctor?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure. They didn't sign their name and despite the similarities, this is definitely not Dr. Jackson's hand writing." He looked out over the table meeting the eyes of everyone there. "I asked for Mr. Teal'c assistance, which he gladly provided, on translating this."
"And where is Teal'c shouldn't he be here with you?"
"At this moment, Mr. Teal'c is keeping watch over the room of Dr. Jackson. I believe this will explain why." Clearing his throat again, the old scientist adjusted his glasses. "Fifth day of the twelfth cycle. Interior ruminations have discovered source of all headaches. The being is dying. Dreams correctly interpreted as memories. Same seven dreams continue to flash through my mind. Must send word through the Star Gate, warn others of plot against them."
Beltran lowered the paper and glanced at the General. "Sir, I have omitted a few words because at this time I am not exactly sure, but Mr. Teal'c seems pretty sure he knows them. They is a word I substituted for one he translated as Tok'ra, which means resistance. The seven dreams is also wrong, he claims it means the seven symbols, which would explain the gate address attached. However, it is the third and final word that has me, quite frankly, scared shitless. I didn't want to believe it, but Mr. Teal'c assures me it is so."
They had all grown still with worry, staring at the old man.
However, Hammond didn't wait for him to finish. "Thank you, Dr. Beltran, I am sure you and Teal'c did an exemplary job."
"But, sir, did you not wish to know what I found out?" Dr. Beltran shook the papers at him.
"No, and I would ask that you bring me any and all translations you have on this immediately." Leaning forward, Hammond laid his hands on top of the table. "Sargent Silar, how long until the gate is active again?"
Silar glanced at the General helplessly, afraid to ask what was on everyone's mind. "Uh, I would say no more than an hour, sir. In fact the repair team was almost finished. We are just waiting for restored power before we turn the computers back on, sir."
"Good. We have a generator on the way from Nellis that should be here within the hour." Turning back to Dr. Beltran, Hammond gave him a stern look. "Do you have the warning translated?"
Beltran held his head up in confidence. "Yes, sir. When I figured out it was a message of some kind, I set about it with Mr. Teal'c. If I may, sir, just what is so important about the gate. Surely you do not intend to warn these..."
"As a matter of fact, I do." Hammond knew he couldn't continue without explaining a little better, but he couldn't divulge all his secrets at this point in time. "What I am about to tell you can not go outside this room, is that clear?" He gave them another stern look before continuing. "It has come to my attention that Dr. Jackson does not have long to live. These people are his only means of survival at this point in time and that is all I am going to say. Now you all have your duties, get to it. Dismissed." He stood up and walked out the room.
Janet was the second to follow suit, along with Dr. Beltran and Sargent Silar.
Jack turned to face Major Davis and Major Maybourne. "Well, kids, I am so glad daddy know's best. But I am getting a little tired of this cloak and dagger routine. How about you?"
"I am sure the general has his reasons, Colonel." Major Davis stood from his chair and started for the door.
"You know what it is, don't you?" This time it was Harry who asked.
Davis shook his head. "Gentlemen, this is the Air Force, not the gossip fence."
"Oh don't give me that crap, Davis. Ever since you got this posting last month, you've been squeakier than a chew toy. None of my people can find a thing on you. Nothing so much as a parking violation." Standing, Harry walked over to the straight backed Major. "What is it you are hiding?"
"He's a closet case, Hare. They are so afraid of even the smallest of infractions leading to an inquiry they avoid even the simplest of temptations." Jack, having followed suit, cornered Paul on the other side. "Isn't that right, Major."
"If you are asking what I think you are asking, Colonel, I will report you immediately. I don't like being bothered with trivial matters, but questioning the sexual orientation of an officer is court martialable offense, sir." Pushing past the glaring man, Davis walked out of the briefing room.
"Well that went over well, Colonel. That man's ass is so squeaky his fuck buddy would have a hard time keeping it in. Just too bad we can't use that against him to get the information from him." Sighing, Harry sat back against the briefing room table. "My sources haven't been speaking to me since I got to this god forsaken mountain complex. Whatever your Dr. Jackson has going on has them in the dark. They don't like being left out of the loop and neither do I."
"Do you think you can get one of your people to translate Goa'uld?" Jack asked as he pulled out his wallet.
"Yeah, Dr. Rennoir is our archeologist. She doesn't usually do installations, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have her on the team doing the work on your censors. What have you got?" Harry trotted over to Jack's side to stare at what he was unfolding. "My god, Jack, is this what I think it is?"
"Yeah, I took it from Daniel's bed side. The glyph thingies are slightly different, but they are pretty much the same thing. At least the gate address is still the same." Looking around, Jack folded it back up and stuck it in his shirt pocket. "Get your girl and meet me in the commissary. I am feeling hungry."
"Will do." Harry started for the door then paused. "Oh, and get the roast turkey surprise, I hear they have real turkey today."
"Your sources?"
"No, I ordered it specially. I know what they usually serve here and I wasn't taking any chances."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stepping through line, Jack grabbed the bowl of Strawberry Red jello and grimaced. It was not Lime Green, but it would have to do. With a resigned sigh and an eyebrow raise, he looked at his food and went to the cashier. He paid for it, complimented the chef, and walked over to his usual table. It felt empty without the other three.
However, before he could stew in his own memories for long, he was joined by Maybourne two women and four guards. Grinning, he gave them a sardonic look. "What happened to just you and the good doctor, Harry?"
"Well it has to look real, Jack. Plus, the guards go wherever my people go. You know the drill, no one by themselves. This place is a mad house." Picking at his roasted turkey, Harry salted it. "I've briefed Dr. Rennoir on the confidentiality, but she needs the document before she can translate."
"I've photocopied it. I keep the original." He pulled out the copy from his shirt and handed it over to Harry. "The original is in a safe place."
"Good, make sure you keep it just in case." Harry studied it then handed over to the woman on his right.
"Just in case what, Maybourne?" Jack didn't like to think of the Major being involved anymore.
Giving a half smile, Harry looked about. "Just in case certain people have been compromised. Need I remind you of the Hathor incident. Chemical agents used by Earth's enemies have been used in the past to influence your personnel."
Grimacing, Jack wrinkled his nose. "I remember. Almost got myself a snake, as you can recall."
"Yeah, that was a fun report to read." Harry chuckled while he ate some of the turkey. Closing his eyes, he swallowed slowly. "Man that is some good turkey. Good thing I had my people precook it. They probably wouldn't know what to do with real meat around here."
"Hey, watch yourself, they can just as easily spit in the food too." Jack smiled as he waved at the commissary ladies. "I always make it a point to be extra nice to them."
"And you're a suck up."
"Damned straight, especially if it gets me extra portions."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Putting their lunch trays on the cleaning conveyor belt, Jack and Harry looked around casually. Jack approached Harry from the side. "Well?"
"She says it will take at least a day. The symbols are close to the script she was trained with, but there is a slight difference. Something about it being the difference in slang, like English and American. I dunno, anyways, the point is she can't do a hard translation, she needs reference material and time to do it. She brought her computer with her, but it will still take time." Harry wiped his face one last time then threw the napkin on the conveyor belt.
Jack glanced over his shoulder. "So we will meet up here tomorrow for breakfast. Bring whatever you find here. If she finds out what Doc Beltran was twittering about, notify me immediately."
"You're pretty good at this take charge thing," Harry mused.
"Look, I don't like going behind the general's back, but something about this entire situation don't add up." Leaning in close, he lowered his voice even further. "He didn't seem one bit surprised about what the translation said."
"I wonder what exactly he knows." Pausing when two scientists dropped off their trays, Harry waited for them to leave. "Jack, do you think you can get in to ask Daniel himself?"
"I dunno. The last time I talked with him, we weren't exactly on friendly terms. And the last time I saw him, he was drifting in and out of it. Janet says he hasn't got much time." Noting the other's expression, he nodded. "Right, I'll get down there and stop over on my way to meet up with Carter."
"Keep me informed."
"Hey, I thought I was the colonel here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walking down the small corridor to the iso-ward, Jack kept an eye out for any unwanted attention. The three pronged brackets of the censors glowed on the walls reminding him of... a very sensitive part of his anatomy. Adjusting himself, he glared at the tiny red eye on the tip of the largest prong. Oh yeah, he was going to have a talk with Doc Myron.
Coming around the corner, he came up short. The entrance to the iso-ward was a flutter of activity. Overseeing the gaggle of nurses and doctors was Fraiser. Beside her was Hammond and Teal'c.
Hammond was looking almost close to breaking and Teal'c wasn't much better.
"Just what the hell is going on?" He hadn't realized he had said it out loud until they turned to look at him. Summoning his courage, he stomped up to them. "General, why are all these people here?"
"Just go back to your duties, Colonel." Hammond tried to put out a hand to guide O'Neill away, but the Colonel backed up. "Jack, please, you don't need to see this."
"Colonel O'Neill, I am in agreement with General Hammond. I do not wish for you to bare witness to these events." Teal'c stood to block Jack's view as several people came out of Daniel's room at once.
"Out of the way, T, I'm not asking." Jack shoved passed Teal'c and in to the hall. He froze in his tracks as they wheeled out their cargo.
Daniel was covered in blood from his nose and ears. With each slow breath, more blood flowed from his body. They dragged him down the hall on the gurney. At the corner a monitor squealed and the voices of the people increased frantically.
The last sight Jack had of his friend was a nurse mopping up the blood with a sheet that was already too stained with it from the floor. Turning around, he blinked at the three people standing there. "What happened?"
"Daniel suffered another seizure. Whether he had it before or after he started bleeding I'm not sure. At this point it doesn't matter which." Janet looked shrunken in on herself as she removed her stethoscope. "That was his brain wave monitor. When I came in, he'd already gone into cardiac arrest. I'm sorry, gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I've got work I need to do." Placing a hand to her face, she slowly walked off towards the opposite end of the hall to her office.
General Hammond place a heavy hand on Jack's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Colonel, I know how much he meant to you." Letting his hand fall, the General started down the hall.
Jack was left standing their dumb struck staring at Teal'c. "How did this happen?"
"I believe Dr. Fraiser said there was most likely an obstruction in his brain stem." Teal'c tried for peaceful, but the previous events had seriously disturbed him. He had never known someone to die such a violent death from no obvious injuries.
"No," even to Jack, his voice sounded dazed. "I mean what happened here. You were standing watch over him."
"I had only just arrived when he started to seize. The nurses had informed me I was to hold him down and call for help if it happened. I did hold him down, but my strength was no match for his and he threw me across the room. Before I could arise to my feet, his heart had stopped and Dr. Fraiser was rushing in to the room." Teal'c mimicked Hammond's earlier actions by placing a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Truly, there was nothing anyone on this planet could have done to save our Daniel Jackson."
"What about else where?" Jack raised a hand to gesture towards the gate room. "There are sarcophaguses out there. We could go hijack one, may be a dozen."
"No doubt they are heavily fortified, but for Daniel Jackson I would fight the entire System Lord's collective. It would be a most honorable battle." Teal'c seemed to brighten at the thought, a smile coming to his lips.
"And a most stupid death. Don't you be going and getting any idea's, T. Daniel wouldn't want us to... Oh who am I kidding? This is Daniel I am talking about here. He's my son for Christ's sake."
Teal'c raised an eyebrow.
"I sorta adopted him on our first mission. Someone had to stand for him when he married Sha're. How was I to know it meant I was going to be named his 'honored father'..." Suddenly looking down, Jack's hands shook. "They're still out there, you know."
"Who is that, O'Neill?"
"Skarra and Sha're. They are still out there and I made a promise with Daniel to bring them home." Putting his arm around Teal'c shoulder, Jack started towards the burn ward. "Let's go inform Carter. I'm sure she'll wanna hear it from someone who cares."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack sat in the almost empty commissary. The silent, solemn air allowed him the time to contemplate his place in the world. Still in the same clothes from the day before, two day's growth on his face, he looked quite the sight, he knew. Night had given way to morning as he sat there thinking.
It pained him to have to let them sedate Carter, but her hysterics had damaged the bandages and threatened to tear her still mending stitches. She had calmly laid in his arms most of the night, just staring at the ceiling, letting the tears run down her face. Not even the sight of Cassandra had awakened her spirits.
He blamed it all on that damned battle. Having thought they lost Daniel on the ship had shaken the team to the core. And finally losing him now, a month later, destroyed what fragile peace they had left. Teal'c had retreated to his quarters to seek peace or some other and left Jack to his own devices. After Carter had passed out, he left her and came here.
Now he was just waiting, for what, he couldn't even remember now. It wasn't until a figure plopped down in the seat in front of him, that Jack realized several hours had passed. He blinked and focused on the man. "Ferretti, what the hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing, Jack. You look like hell." Taking a sip of his milk, Louis wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I can't believe you people actually drink this stuff. It tastes horrible."
"It's called two percent. If you want the good stuff anymore, you have to requisition the cow and wait two to six months to be denied." He snorted at his own joke, then shook his head. "I don't know what to do, Lou."
"It seems pretty obvious to me. Move on with your life. What's done is done, you can't bring him back." Taking another sip, Louis dropped the carton and glared at it. "Just disgusting."
"Yeah, I guess you are right, but it is going to take time." Jack took a sip from his own cold coffee and grimaced. "It feels like I just lost Kowalski to that damned snake again."
"Don't blame yourself for that one, Jack. You didn't kill Daniel and you didn't kill Kowalski, that shol'va did." Grabbing the carton, Louis stood up and started to walk away. "Just give it some time, that's all you can do."
"Time." Jack started to take a drink from his coffee again when he paused. Glancing up, he watched as Ferretti tossed his carton in the trash and walked whistling out of the commissary. Narrowing his eyes, he set the cup down. Jack got up and followed his friend. He passed by Harry on his way to the exit.
"Hey, Jack, I got that translation... Where are you going?" Harry stood there a moment watching the colonel before deciding to follow the Colonel. "Jack?"
At the end of the hall where it turned towards the gateroom, both Jack and Ferretti stopped. Ferretti looked at his friend and smiled. "Something you wanted to ask, Jack?"
"Yeah, can I borrow your pen?" Walking up to his friend, Jack ripped open the blue uniform and exposed the inner pocket. Pulling out the pass pen, he clicked it off and the entire corridor exploded in noise and flashing lights.
The doors started to slide shut and Ferretti's expression went from amused to pissed. Eyes glowing, the Goa'uld picked Jack up by his shirt and tossed him aside. Ferretti started running down the hall, slipping between two security doors just before they closed.
Harry rushed to Jack's side, checking him for injuries. "My god, Jack, how the hell did you know?"
"A better question is how did it get a hold of one of these?" Jack held up the pass pen for Harry to see.
"Let me see that." Taking it from him, Harry inspected the pen from top to bottom. "This isn't one of mine. Ours has a red strip just barely visible along the side. This is solid black."
"Then someone on your team is telling secrets to the enemy. Here, help me up." Jack accepted Harry's hand and pulled himself to his feet. No sooner than he was standing then the security door where the Ash'rak had disappeared through rang from a hit. The door rang several more time from the impact of bullets. Smiling, Jack patted Harry on the back. "Looks like your little rat trap actually worked, Maybourne."
"Well, I can't take all the credit... What am I talking about, I've never been one for modesty. Of course I can. It was my idea, my style, my... flare!" Looking dazzled, Harry grinned. "Me, and me alone."
Grimacing, Jack walked over to the call box. Opening it, he pulled out the phone. "Yeah, security to level twenty-three, juncture thirty-four. We got ourselves a little snake problem. No, don't send in the exterminators! We caught ourselves a live Goa'uld. Hear?" He held up the receiver so the security personnel on the other side could hear the Ash'rak banging on the door. "Tell Hammond I am on my way to see him and prepare a live extraction team. I want this thing taken alive and unharmed." He hung up and closed the box.
Harry held up the papers he had all but forgotten about in his hand. "These are the translations she has completed. There is still more, but I figured you'd want to see this before hand."
"Give me that." Jack took the folder and flipped it open. He started to quickly scan it, then stopped completely. Glancing up at Harry, he raised an eyebrow. "Is this for real?"
"Every word of it. I swear on your mother's grave."
"She's not dead."
"She will be if you spill a word about this to her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General Hammond stared at the monitor in shock as they stood in the control room. Jack and Harry were on one side of him while Teal'c, Janet, and Paul were on the other. The Goa'uld on the monitor continued to bang on the bars of his cell and demand they release him.
Janet deliberately refused to watch the monitor as Ferretti called her name. Adjusting her necklace, she focused on the General. "Sir, about why we are here."
"Yes, I called you all here because Sargent Silar has completed the repairs and rebooted the computer. The new generator is in place and the gate is ready to be dialed." Hammond stared at her blankly when the Ash'rak called her name again.
"Why don't you tell us the real reason you called us here, General?" Jack folded his arms and glared at his senior officer.
"What are you talking about?" Hammond started to turn towards Jack, but found his way blocked by one of Harry's guards. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Someone's been playing with the Goa'ulds, sir." Harry held up a Zat-nic-atel and pointed it at the general. "Don't you think it's about time you let us in on your little secrets?"
"Colonel, you had better explain this before I have you thrown in the brig!" Hammond started again when another gun joined the first.
"We have a part of the translation, sir. Apparently the knock to the head didn't just kill Daniel." Jack pulled out the papers from his uniform pocket and tossed it to the General. "It was killing the parasite inside him and it knew it."
"Colonel, you have it all wrong!" Janet started to move, but found herself the center of attention and four guns. Holding up her hands, she watched them carefully. "I can explain, if you will let me."
"Go ahead, start talking. And while you are at it, you can explain why the goa'uld in that cell had this pass pen." Harry produced the black pen and pressed the button to turn it on. "We recovered it from the Goa'uld. Without it, he was quickly caught in my trap. It was a clever forgery, but not one of mine. I can recognize them all by sight."
"Okay, so I can't explain that one, but I do know what is going on here with us, right now." Janet looked to General Hammond for permission. After he nodded, she took a deep breath. "Daniel Jackson, as we know him, died five days ago. What we've been keeping alive was the memory remnants of him and the symbiot. A Tok'ra by the name of Jolinar of Malksur."
"So we gathered from the translation." Jack sneered at her, rage bubbling up to the surface. "And what, you decided to help this snake get home in return for what, technology?"
"No, it wasn't like that. The snake, was already dying by the time Teal'c brought him through the gate. He sensed something was wrong and immediately told me of his reaction to Daniel. I quarantined Dr. Jackson and discover a faint, yet fading, secondary brain wave that belonged to the symbiot. It died shortly there after." She gestured at the monitor. "There is your murderer. At the time we didn't know the damned thing had snuck in. It wasn't until two days later that Daniel told me of how an Ash'rak had tortured him. With the help of Doctor Beltran, I soon learned what exactly an Ash'rak was and alerted everybody to its presence."
"And told it where it could find its mark, good one, Doc." Jack's fists clenched, ready to take her on.
"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't know. I am kicking myself because Daniel tried warning us after the blackout and I had him sedated thinking that..." she stopped to take another breath. "Thinking that it was just another remnant. He had been having flash backs of the life of the symbiot ever since he was brought in by Teal'c. When I first saw him, his eyes flashed white and he scared me. I wasn't about to touch him until he asked for my help." She pushed past the guns to the colonel. "You have to understand, I did everything I could to save him. I kept hoping that we would get the MRI back online so I could scan his brain in hopes of saving him. But there was no way."
Jack turned away from her, hands still fisted at his sides. "Then what was all the secrecy about?"
"We felt if you knew what the true cause of his dying was, you'd think it wasn't really him. We couldn't do that to you or Captain Carter." She grabbed his hand in her own, holding it to her chest. "There was no way for you to understand that, though the fatal blow had been dealt on another world, your reactions to him would have just as surely killed him in your own minds."
"So it was for our protection, right?"
"And his." Making him look at her, Janet allowed him to see the anger in her eyes. "I don't know what was happening between you two that last time, but I know it hurt him a great deal."
"I was hurting a great deal too. So you'll excuse me if I'm not all rainbows, sunshine, and light." Jack jerked his hand from her and turned away.
"If you two will take a break, we still have a little matter of the goa'uld possessing my tech." Harry held up the zat gun. "Now one of you want to tell me who has been in conference with our resident snake?"
"I honestly have no idea how it got a hold of that pass, but I will damn sure find out." Hammond reached around to grab the phone behind him. Lifting it off the receiver, he dialed a three digit code. "Get me General Strolland."
The lights in the control room flashed and an alarm went off. Sargent Davis twisted from the tablo unfolding behind him to focus on the gate. "Off-world activation. Unauthorized wormhole inbound."
"Close the iris!" The moment the wormhole was established, Jack slammed his hand down on the iris control. The metal, spiral lock slid into place over the gate.
Silar looked up from his controls at O'Neill. "Sir, I am picking up a signal, it's from the Tok'ra."
Jack turned back to Hammond accusingly. "You called them already?"
"Yes. I have the full approval of the president to seek peaceful negotiations with them." Hammond held a hand over the phone. "From the testimony given by Doctor Jackson in his final days, the president has been suitably impressed enough to open political dialogs."
"You are going to trust a snake, sir?" Jack looked at the General in shock.
"Hell no. But we are going to let a delegation from their leaders enter without weapons to retrieve the body of their fallen. Once you have confirmation of the signal, Sargent, open the iris for thirty seconds." The phone clicked and Hammond uncovered the receiver. "House Keeping." With that, he hung up.
They all turned to watch the iris unscroll open. A moment later four shadows appeared against the wormhole then formed into people. The gate shut down after they appeared. Two women and two men in dessert fatigues stood there taking in the sight of the gate room and sixteen men with guns pointed at them.
Hammond walked up to the microphone and pressed the speaker button. "Greetings, my name is General Hammond, and welcome to Earth."
The eldest, a woman with complete silver hair and a pleasant demeanor stepped forward. Slowly, she raised a hand to her chest and lowered head. "My name is Saroush, my symbiot is Selmac. We greet you in the name of the Tok'ra." Gesturing to her companions, she pointed at the woman first. "This is Anise, her host is Freya." To her right, she gestured to one older of the two men. "This is High Councilor Perseus, his host is also Perseus. And this..." Pointing to the last, she held up her hand. When he stepped forward, she chuckled. "This impatient one is Martouf, his symbiot is Lantash."
Lantash's eyes glowed as he stepped forward, ignoring the guns. "Enough of this, where is she? Where is Jolinar?" He tried to fend off Perseus' restraint on his arm, but the elder wouldn't be denied.
"Be silent, Martouf!" The elder's eyes glowed as his voice took on a base tone. When his companion nodded, Perseus turned to the window. "You must forgive him, he is merely concerned with the well being of his mate."
Jack glanced at Hammond as the older man faced him. Shrugging, he gestured up to the briefing room.
Hammond nodded. "If you will follow the guards, they will escort you to the briefing room. I am afraid the situation is not as you were lead to believe."
"Very well." Perseus' tone said he was less than pleased with this news, but he was willing to play along for now. Walking down the ramp, he walked at Saroush's side. "What have you gotten us into now, my friend?"
"It was necessary. I could not stand to see Martouf continue wasting away for his lost one. That brooding nature of his most certainly does not befit one of Lantash's exuberance." Smiling good naturedly, Saroush placed her hand around Perseus' arm and allowed him to lead her aged frame. "It is but a small service that we finally meet these Tau'ri in the same process."
"And of your other needs," he inquired in a whisper.
"We will deal with them when the time comes." At his glance, she patted his shoulder. "The time has not yet come."
"Do not wait too long, my friend." Soon they were coming down a corridor to a large, glass wall with a door that lead into the briefing room. Already inside were the five people they had seen standing behind the glass wall of the gate room. Perseus stopped short when he saw Teal'c. "The shol'va?"
Teal'c chest swelled as he smiled and growled at the Tok'ra leader. "I am."
"Most impressive." He stalked over to Hammond and held up his hand. "I am High Councilor Perseus of the Tok'ra."
Taking the hand, Hammond shook it much to the bemusement of the Tok'ra. "I am General Hammond of the SGC. Welcome to Earth." Gesturing at the people along his side of the table, Hammond pointed to each in turn. "This is our chief medical officer, Major Janet Fraiser. My second in command, Colonel O'Neill. His team member whom you know of, Teal'c. Next to him is the final member of our staff, a visiting member who helped us capture the Ash'rak, Major Harry Maybourne."
Perseus bristled at the mention of the assassin, as did the others of his party. "You did not mention this in your message. You did not mention many things in your message. Before we continue, I must insist that you produce Jolinar."
Hammond visibly paled. "You might want to take a seat for this. I don't know exactly how to put it."
"Oh cut the crap, General. Your little snakey friend is dead. In my opinion, good riddance!" Jack didn't get chance to finish before he found himself slammed against the wall by the one Tok'ra he hadn't been watching.
"You lie!" Martouf held the colonel up by his lapels, using his own shirt to choke him. Tears formed at the edge of his eyes as he snarled at the human. "Don't lie to me! Where is she?"
"He's dead!" Jack kicked out at the Tok'ra, gasping when he was released. "That damned snake took my buddy host and then died a moment later!" Shoving Martouf away, he punched the Tok'ra in the face. "He lingered in agony for four days before suffering a major seizure and finally dying last night! And it's all your god damned snake's fault!"
"That's not true!" Martouf wiped his mouth and glared from his position on the floor. "She would never take an unwilling host! We don't do that!"
"Here's a news flash, bucko, you're Goa'ulds, and Goa'ulds do do that!" Rubbing his own sore neck, Jack turned to the general. "Permission to be excused, sir?"
"Granted! Go get cleaned up!" Hammond motioned for the door.
Jack saluted, turned on his heel, then stormed out of the room.
Saroush folded her hands behind her back. Facing the SG personnel, she cleared her throat. "It appears we have both been operating under mistaken information. The matter now remains, what are your intentions towards us are at this point?"
Staring down at the grief stricken Martouf, Hammond blinked. Returning his attention to Saroush, he took a breath to clear his mind. "I have no idea."
THE END..................For Now.