CO

by Scarecrows Host

CO can stand for commanding officer or Carbon Monoxide depending on how you look at it

CO

CO can stand for Commanding Officer, or Carbon Monoxide depending on which way you look at it.

"Carter?"
"Sir?"
"CO. Commanding Officer?"
"Actually, sir, Its Carbon Monoxide."
"Ah." The colonel took another look at it. "Whys it on the board?" The colonel regretted that question the moment he asked it.
"The new piece of technology we picked up from P4X-887 revealed that it emits low levels of radiation, Carbon Monoxide, and CFC's. We think it may have had something to with the instability of the atmosphere."
The colonel rolled his eyes. "How's that?"
"Well when enough CO, CFC's, and Radiation enter the atmosphere, it burrows through the Ozone layer creating a hole that allows UV waves to heat up the planet's surface..."
"Ack!" He said holding up a finger. "Global warming?"
"Yes, Sir." Carter lowered her head in resignation. She looked like a little kid who just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The colonel went around poking and prodding the device.
"Monoxide is poison?" He stated.
Carter looked at him wide-eyed. "Sir?"
"I don't have your advanced brains carter, but I did take high school chemistry."
Carter smiled. The floor suddenly seemed very appealing.
"Actually sir, your brains are more advanced than mine. You have the ancient gene. According to Daniel, that means your further along the evolutionary path."
Jack scratched his head and shrugged. "Skrew the ancients." The colonel stated flatly.
"Yes, Sir." Carter smiled again.
There was a long pause. "So is CO like poison?" He asked again.
"The Ozone layer acts as a shield from UV rays. When CO burrows through the Ozone layer, the UV is allowed to penetrate it, artificially heating the..."
"Carter!"
"Yes sir. CO is like poison." The Colonel poked it and prodded it again.
"This thing destroyed the planet?"
"Well it stands to reason that this isn't the only device of its kind. We just didn't find the others." Sam returned to her work.
"So what's it do?"
"Well, it has trace amounts of trinium, titanium and steel."
Sam thought that the answer should be obvious but when the Colonel raised his eyes in question, she continued. "It was for defensive purposes. Creating shields."
"Ah. Like what another Ozone layer?"

Sam looked up at him for a moment, "Sir, you've just done it again!" He continued to poke and prod it with his fingers. Then looked down and blushed.

"Yes," then suddenly realizing that he had no idea what on earth (or any other planet for that matter) she was talking about he asked, "How did I do it this time?"

Sam looked at the device then back at the Colonel. "Sir, a trinium and titanium alloy is extremely difficult to erode. It has a half life of over 40,000 years! Damage can't be done to it by ordinary means and Ozone can't burn through it." She encouraged him to finish her sentence. But the Colonel couldn't figure it out for the life of him.

"Carter?"

She rolled her eyes. "They were trying to eject artificial Ozone into the atmosphere in the hopes that it would rise and close the gap in the Ozone layer."

The Colonel was still lost, "Yes, well, glad I could be of help. But I'm hungry." He whined. "Would you like to join me Major?"

Carter ran to her computer faster than anyone could say 'simulation' and shook her head, still looking at the device. "I have to run some more tests, Sir."

The Colonel rolled his eyes. "Carter, eat. Please, sometime today. That's an order."

"Yes, sir. Just after these tests." She was still concentrating on the device.

"Fine, but if I come back and you're still programming electrons to jump from one space time dimension to another I will personally drag you to the commissary myself, and let you eat poison. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." A smile crossed her face at his joke about poison. When the Colonel left, she felt a weight drop at the pit of her stomach and bile rise to her mouth. Suddenly feeling dizzy, she gripped on the side of the bench near where her gear was perched on. Breathing heavily, she lay down on the ground. No one could be seen, not even the Colonel, but Carter let out a small "Sir," in a feeble attempt to call for help.

When he didn't come, she felt her heart shatter, like glass. After all the years of playing the good soldier, she expected it to be stronger. In reality, it was as delicate as a flower and it broke when he didn't come.

Considering the fact that she may have inadvertently turned the device on while running one of her simulations, she tried to find an off switch, but couldn't find one. Understanding that this might be the last time that she's alive, her thoughts turned to Colonel O'Neill. His brown penetrating eyes and dire need to do what is right, even if it crosses shades of gray came flashing through her head. She wouldn't mind if she got to see his face, one more time.

What came to mind at that very moment was a poem that she had written about a boy in her Meteorology class in College. She smiled at the thought.

Like poison in my blood,

You burn the barriers in my heart,

You took my breath away,

From the very start.

Not likely to happen,

Lurking in shades of gray,

Not a word tomorrow,

Not even today.

Radiant heat from the morning sun,

Burning through my soul,

You cannot imagine,

The story of a life I have told.

"Radiant heat in the morning sun?" Asked a familiar voice. "What on earth does that mean?"

Carter coughed and woke up in the gurney with questions swimming around in her head. She sat straight up in her bed then the Colonel pushed her back down.

"Easy, Major." He said, uncharacteristically soothingly.

Carter looked around the infirmary. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Sir, what happened?"

"Apparently you've been exposed to too much Carbon Monoxide. It messed with your head."

Doctor Frasier appeared by the Colonel's side. "You have to thank him, Sam. Had you been exposed to much more you would have died. You're lucky he found you and brought you here when he did."

"Thank you, Sir." She coughed.

"Yes well, let's hope you've learned your lesson." He said in his very sixth grade teacher voice.

"Lesson, sir?" She coughed again.

"the next time you have the urge to simulate something and your CO happens to ask you to join him for lunch, I hope you'll agree to join him."

Carter tried to laugh at his use of referring to himself in the third person, but the laugh came out as another raspy cough that made the Colonel flinch. She only let out another soft, "Yes, sir."

Doctor Frasier glanced between the two of them. "Well, you should be fit for active duty in a few hours. Your exposure was enough to knock you out, but not enough to do any permanent damage. But come to me if anything goes wrong, got it?"

Carter nodded and the Colonel said "Don't worry, doc. I'll make sure she takes care of herself." A sly smile was creeping up his face. The kind that had women from the face of the planet and other planets following him like puppies. Frasier took one last look at Sam then stalked off to visit Siler who had accidentally burned himself.

There was a comfortable silence between the two of them when Jack thought of something. "Hey Carter, what does "lurking in shades of gray" and "poison in my blood" mean?"

Carter coughed but was still able to reach to the bedside table and poor herself some water. "Sir, how do you know that phrase?"

He pointed to her casually while rocking back and forth on his heels. "You were saying it, when I dragged you in. Sounded like it came from a poem."

Sam thought of her next response very carefully and somewhat shyly. The colour of scarlet rising in her cheeks. 'At least it isn't bile,' she mused. "It was a poem I wrote in my meteorology class in College."

A cheeky grin grew on the Colonel's face as he pulled up a seat next to her bed. "A poem you wrote about a boy, Carter?"

If she was scarlet before, she was burning crimson now. "Sir, it's not something I like to talk about."

The Colonel feigned shock. "Always the good soldier," He shook his head, "I know you want to talk about your science stuff but I don't get it and no matter how much you try to explain it to me, I will still never get it."

Carter crossed her arms like a stubborn child. "I think you understand a helluva lot more then what you are letting on."

The smile on his face grew. "That's borderline insubordination, Major." Carter just looked away from him for a moment, something between an embarrassed smile and annoyance forming on her face.

"It was about a boy!" The Colonel yelled in glee.

"Sir!" Carter turned around in shock.

"Oh c'mon Carter. You can tell me. I may be your CO, but I am also your friend." He said with care. "You can tell me anything."

Carter turned to look at her CO, grinning widely like a giddy schoolgirl. "It was about a boy. My friend Michael at the time. He thought he was too old. But I liked him a lot, Sir."

Taking in an unusual interest in Carter's personal life, he asked, "What did he look like?"

Staring off somewhere into the distance, a smile at a faint memory froze on her face. "He was tall with short brown hair, and brown eyes. But his hair was graying on one side." He indicated to her left side of her hair, "that's why James thought that he was too old for me."

"Who was this James person?" Jack asked, bewildered.

"An old friend, sir. We grew up together around the street. He had blue eyes and brown hair. Kind of like Daniel." She looked pensively at the ceiling as if trying to remember something. The Colonel continued looking at her. "It's ironic that I thought about that poem when I was passed out though Colonel."

"Oh, yeah? Whys that?" He asked.

"When I wrote it, I was sitting under a willow tree with James. He was in my meteorology class with me and we were talking about Carbon Monoxide's effects on the atmosphere. He saw me watching Michael and he made a comment about him being my personal toxin."

"Sounds dangerous." He calmly remarked.

"Yes, sir. That's the point. CO is toxic."

"CO is toxic." He repeated.