Gifts That Were
Note: It wouldn't surprise me if someone else already had this idea. I actually noticed after publishing A Place for Myself that an earlier story had a similar plot to chapter 5 of my story. Also, I really doubt I'm the first to voice Cameron's question to Daniel. Similarities are coincidental and I apologize to people who have already beaten me to it. I also apologize for the stupid title.
This story is set after season 10, though the only indication of the time is Sam's absence.
Daniel sat in the infirmary while new staff doctor Liam Braddock stitched his shoulder.
"I have to admit that it's a comfort seeing such a mundane accident after everything I've read and heard," Liam told Daniel.
Daniel chuckled quietly. "I'm glad I could help. Have you been off-world yet?"
"I took a tour of the alpha site a couple days ago."
"Must have been boring," Daniel replied.
"You won't hear me complaining."
"Still, nothing can beat this, right?"
Liam laughed. "Definitely not. I couldn't have imagined any job like this when I graduated medical school. And as it turns out, having a sort-of-Brit on the medical staff seemed to have made some people in the UK happy."
"You don't have an accent."
"I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but both my parents are English. My dad was born in Liverpool and moved to New York when he was four years old. My mother's parents were from London and Blackburn and emigrated in their teens. I'm not exactly British, but close enough, I suppose."
"Jackson!" Cameron called as he entered in the infirmary. "How's your shoulder?"
"It'll be fine."
"Tell me something, Daniel," Cameron began. "If I shot you in the head and you ascended and then descended, you'd be all healed up, right?"
Daniel narrowed his eyes.
"Relax, I'm just wondering out loud. If I was really curious, I probably would have already tried it."
Daniel looked at Cameron without expression.
"Soooo . . .," Cameron continued. "The meeting with the Motera has been pushed up. General Landry wants us ready in an hour."
"Am I clear to go, Doctor Braddock?" Daniel asked. "We're just picking up a diplomatic offering. Nothing physical. It's a very simple mission."
"Your reputations precede you both," Liam responded, "but your injuries aren't too deep."
"We'll be fine, Doctor Braddock," Cameron said as he began to exit with Daniel. "We won't have to see you when we come back."
"Is that a promise?"
"Well, no. Welcome to SGC."
…
"In recognition of our valued alliance and in appreciation of the blessings you have given us, please accept these gifts on behalf of all the Motera," announced Petrio, leader of the Motera. In the presence of the Enkarans, the Motera gave SG-1 four wooden musical instruments, indigenous fruits, and a roll of violet fabric.
"Finally," Petrio said to Daniel; "I know you are an avid archeologist and linguist, Doctor Jackson. I want you to personally have these. This is one of the oldest books we have in the language we spoke before significant changes were made to it. These two helmets were assembled centuries ago when we were still warring tribes."
"Thank you, Petrio. I don't know what to say. The book looks very delicate. I'll take very good care of it." Daniel touched a helmet and immediately felt dirt transfer onto his hands.
"The helmets too, I hope," Petrio said.
"Oh, of course, definitely," Daniel replied as he continued to notice how dirty the helmets were.
"What's the book about?" Cameron asked.
"Basic descriptions of some of our indigenous organisms."
"Right, I remember Doctor Jackson mentioning your genetics background," Cameron noted.
A light meal followed the gift ceremony and SG-1 eventually returned to Earth.
Daniel meant to take a look at the book Petrio gave him before heading home, so he had it along with the helmets on his desk. However, an unrelated translation project took much longer than he expected and Daniel fell asleep at his desk.
Hours later, Daniel woke up and began gathering his things so he could sleep at home, but he noticed that part of his left hand was covered in a green substance resembling mold.
"Well, it's not harming you," Carolyn Lam told Daniel. She took a cotton ball and a small petri dish to collect a sample. "I'll have Doctor Corben look at this when he comes in in the morning."
"I tried to wash it off, but that didn't help. I don't suppose we have anything heavy duty, do we?"
"Nothing that will leave your skin intact."
"How many layers of skin?"
"I think we should let Doctor Corben determine what it is first before we do anything drastic. In the meantime, I think you should stay on base."
…
Jared Corben walked quickly to Daniel's office. "Doctor Jackson, you were off-world yesterday, right?"
"Yeah, we went to see the Motera."
"Anyone else having the same problem as you?"
"No."
"Is there anything you touched that no one else did?"
Daniel pointed to the book and helmets that Petrio gave him. "Just those, I think."
"Come with me to my lab, please. And bring those with you."
"What did you find out?" Daniel asked as they walked.
"I know that thing is alive and not of Earth. Beyond that, I'm not certain. The sample Doctor Lam gave me was no use. They were just desiccated cells with no identifying information. The cell walls suggest plant life, but there's contradictory evidence."
In Jared's lab, Jared held Daniel's arm under a device.
"This will project a magnification onto the screen so I can make sure I get viable cells," Jared said in response to Daniel's unasked question.
Jared drew a scalpel near the green mass when he and Daniel both noticed many cells beneath the surface rapidly retreating away.
"What the – " Daniel exclaimed. "What was that?"
Jared's mouth had dropped. "It's like they knew or learned of the significance of this scalpel. What did Doctor Lam use to collect the sample?"
"Just a thick cotton ball," Daniel answered. "Doctor Corben, what is this?"
"I have no idea, Doctor Jackson. I've never seen anything like it."
Nia Salto, a member of Jared's team, entered at that time. "Doctor Corben? I've confirmed that the green matter originated from the helmets."
Daniel's next stop was the office of General Landry, who immediately called for a meeting with SG-1.
"It's definitely contagious if the helmet transmitted it to me, but it hasn't spread any further than it has," Daniel explained. "Doctor Lam's sample was destroyed as a precaution."
"SG-1, go back to the Motera," General Landry ordered. "Find out what this is and how to deal with it. Take a medical team with you to repeatedly check on Doctor Jackson. I'll order everyone who has been here since you all came back to be checked just in case."
Twenty minutes later, SG-1 gathered in the gate room with Liam Braddock and Helen Liang, another doctor.
"So much for that trip being a simple mission," Liam told Cameron as he approached the colonel.
"Well, you should have known better and not trusted us."
"I did," Liam responded, smiling. He instinctively took a step back as the vortex formed in the stargate.
…
As SG-1, Liam, and Helen approached Petrio's village, they noticed increase bustling.
"Fetch Gereth immediately!" they heard someone cry.
"Who's Gereth?" Vala asked.
"He's one of the village leaders who works under Petrio."
"The village has methodically increased their activity for us, but they do not seem too alarmed," Teal'c commented. "Perhaps they were expecting us."
Gereth soon appeared and ran towards the six visitors. "High greetings to you all!" he exclaimed. "Doctor Jackson, I see Petrio's machinations have caused you some personal inconvenience."
"Yeah, you could say that," Daniel responded.
"We'd like to speak with Petrio. Now," Cameron said.
"I'm afraid that is not possible. He is currently a fugitive hiding in the southwest forests."
"Gereth," Daniel said. "What's going on?"
"Please follow me," Gereth requested. "I will explain our current situation in a more hospitable location."
The group walked through the village and Liam noticed a lot of attention on him.
"Why are people looking at me when you're the one with a green hand?" Liam asked Daniel quietly.
"They're not used to seeing someone with such light hair."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
"My hair's not much lighter than yours."
"You're almost blond."
"Everyone in my family's been confused for blonds, but . . . that's all?"
"Yes," Cameron interrupted. "Now how about some perspective, guys?"
Gereth led the group into a small building and explained. "The corruption and deception that prevailed was too much for us, so we evicted Petrio from his post this morning. He insisted on his innocence, but he still faced arrest. He fled with three friends."
"That's some bad timing for diplomatic relations," Cameron commented.
"Wouldn't be the first time," Daniel said. "What about his family?"
"They remain in the village under careful scrutiny, but they do not know how to get Petrio back."
"And what about the green growth?" Cameron asked.
"We do not know what that is or what Petrio's intentions were. We only discovered it not too long ago, but we did not know until late last night about its effects or that Petrio sent it to other worlds."
"So what else do you know?" Vala asked.
"If it inhabits a person's outside body, as it is currently doing with Doctor Jackson, there is no health risk."
"And inside?"
"We are unsure. A young boy has it in the back of his mouth. He is sick with fever and nausea. He is also lethargic. We do not know if it is because of other factors, such as his youth, or an infection he acquired three days ago."
"So what now?" asked Vala.
"We should go to the southwest forests and apprehend Petrio," Teal'c suggested.
"I agree. Let's go," Cameron responded.
Daniel got up to accompany Cameron, Teal'c, and Vala.
"Should you really be going, Doctor Jackson?" Liam asked.
"Well, I'm in no danger from the growth itself and I know Petrio a little better than the rest of you. I think I should."
"All right," Helen responded. "Liam and I will go with you, just to be on the safe side."
The group had split up into two to cover more ground in the southwest forest. Daniel and Teal'c belonged to one group with Helen. Cameron, Vala, and Liam made up the other trio.
"It didn't take too long for us to find a trail," Vala noted.
Cameron knew why she made the comment. "We have technology that the Motera don't. Same probably goes for experience."
Cameron had taken only a few more steps before he heard a snap. Out of the corner of his right eye, he saw a thin wooden spear fly out. He instinctively dodged to the left, but the spear was able to graze his right bicep and tear his shirt.
Lucas ran to Cameron immediately to check on the wound while Vala looked around.
"Was that an automatic trap or is someone here?" Vala asked.
"I'm pretty sure we triggered it," Cameron responded.
"Daniel, come in," Vala said.
"Yeah?"
"Cameron's been hurt."
"It's nothing," Cameron said.
"We'll be on our way," said Daniel.
Cameron sat down so that Liam could take a proper look at the wound.
Liam opened his medical kit as he spoke. "You also have two splinters, but nothing serious," he said. He grabbed a pair of tweezers and pulled the splinters out. "I'm sorry if this is hurting."
"It's fine," Cameron replied as he noticed Vala looking around. "Vala? What are you doing?"
"That trap could have sent a signal to Petrio and his men."
"I'm almost done," Liam said. However, a man dropped from the trees and pulled out a knife. Liam stood up apprehensively as Vala moved forward.
Seeing Vala moving and assuming that Liam was a doctor, the man headed towards Vala, not expecting Liam to do anything. He was surprised, then, when Liam made a quick move with both his arms and rammed the side of his right fist into the man's neck. The man keeled over before noticing that he was bleeding profusely from near his armpits and that Liam held two bloody scalpels in his hands.
"I cut your axillary veins," Liam said. "You should really stop and attend to those cuts."
"The other three are coming!" Vala said.
Cameron stood up and he, Vala, and Liam braced themselves for the other three. Vala fought against Petrio and won her fight rather quickly, allowing her to help Liam. By the time Daniel, Teal'c, and Helen arrived, Petrio and his friends were subdued.
While Liam and Helen tended to the man Liam cut, Daniel interrogated Petrio.
"You have to ingest an analgesic drug, one that inhibits the aggregation of your blood platelets. Then you have to soak your hand in saltwater," Petrio explained. "After that, you can wash it off with a cleaning solution."
"You can take ibuprofen, Doctor Jackson," Helen said. "We have some here."
"How much do you have?" Petrio asked.
Liam looked at his and Helen's kits. "Ten tablets, 200 milligrams each."
"You will need more; twice that amount. I suggest you all go home and get started."
"And how would you know how much ibuprofen he needs?" Cameron asked.
"Doctor Jackson and I have discussed Earth medicines before."
"Well, that's all good, then," Cameron said with a hint of sarcasm. "Thank you for being so forward, Petrio."
"I don't want you to hurt any of us anymore," Petrio responded.
Cameron pulled Daniel aside.
"He's being very forthcoming," Cam mentioned.
Daniel reflected on what Petrio said, both now and when he gave Daniel the helmets. "He wants us to wash it off on Earth. The helmets he gave me were very dirty. Maybe he wanted to infect Earth with this, knowing that the water system would distribute it."
"We need to think of something else, then. Can I shoot you in the head now?"
SG-1 took Petrio and his friends to the village for imprisonment. Helen stayed with SG-1 while Liam went back to SGC to fetch the helmets and more ibuprofen.
…
Unknown to Petrio, Helen, Daniel, and Cameron spent the next day-and-a-half in the Motera village. Helen supervised Daniel's ibuprofen intake to avoid ulcers or other side effects. Finally, Daniel washed the green substance off his hand. He also washed the helmets with saltwater and soap until they were clean. He made sure to wash everything off into one bucket.
Cameron took some of the refuse water and paid Petrio a visit.
"Petrio, Doctor Jackson is all clean now, and so are the helmets. We heard everyone else is too, including the boy who had that green stuff in his mouth. Was he in much danger?"
"I must admit so. Without proper treatment his health would have declined and he would have died."
Cameron approached Petrio and grasped the latter's mouth open. He held the refuse water to his face.
"Good to know. It would be a bad idea, then, to make you drink this, wouldn't it? It's water containing the green substance, and something tells me the other Motera won't care to treat you."
"What do you want?"
"I want to know what this is and what it could have done."
"You're planet is already infected. There's nothing you can do. "
"Actually, Doctor Jackson took care of everything here. Our planet is safe." Cameron drew the water closer to Petrio's mouth. "Talk now."
"We call those creatures avarytes. We believe they are on the verge of an evolutionary development. We think they will become sentient within only a few hundred generations."
Cameron relayed Petrio's confession to the rest of SG-1 and General Landry. "Someone genetically modified some mildew-like fungus they had with plant and animal DNA and Petrio's team continued that work. Now that they might have achieved something pretty big, they want to spread it. Maybe it's some sort of pride thing."
"But that doesn't make much sense," Daniel said. "The conditions of the planets he sent those things to are vastly different. The environmental variation could have resulted in different characteristics, including different levels of sentience."
"Perhaps the curiosity of what would happen was another reason behind these actions," General Landry offered.
"So what now?" Vala asked.
"Will we maintain our diplomatic relationship with the Motera?" Teal'c added.
"Yes," General Landry answered. "With the new leadership and the continued alliance with the Enkarans, a relationship with the Motera is still worth maintaining."
"Doctors Lam and Corben assured me that all the surfaces that could have been contaminated are cleared," Daniel said.
"Good. We can relay our success to the Motera. That information might help the other planets rid themselves of the avarytes," General Landry said.
…
Jared Corben examined Daniel's left hand closely for a final check-up with Liam standing nearby.
"No trace," Jared said. "Let me just double check with stronger magnification."
"I heard you did well against those guys," Daniel told Liam.
Liam chuckled. "I panicked and let my instincts take over. I wouldn't say I did well there. Neither would the medical board."
"I think instincts are all some people need to kick some butt. Vala said you were fearless."
"What goes through your head when you walk into potentially hostile situations like that?"
"It depends. Sometimes I think about other people who depend on me. Other times I think about what my teammates are capable of under pressure. Sometimes, I don't think at all. I just go with whatever is happening. What was going through your mind?"
"When I was 16, high school fell apart for me and I was convinced I wouldn't be able to get into college or have a decent career. Then I got leukemia. I figured that after prevailing through all that, maybe I could face anything."
"You might find out for sure while you're here."
"I suppose I should look forward to it." Liam smiled as he started to leave. "Well, if you're all good here, I'm going to check in on some patients. I'll see you around, but not too much I hope."
"Then again . . . "
"Yeah, your reputation . . ."
"Bye, Doctor Braddock."
"Later."
...
END
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