This story is rated PG-13 for mild language and a mild torture scene involving major characters. Many thanks to my terrific betas, Cathy and Matt, for all their patience, guidance and helpful comments during the writing process. Comments and critiques are appreciated and gratefully accepted.
STARGATE: SG-1
GODDESS OF THE GLASS
"Tanin, Tanin, they're here. They're here! They've just come through the chappa'ei!"
"Are you sure, Rajin?" Tanin asked his younger brother, who had just raced through the door of the temple and practically fallen at his feet in his excitement.
"Yes, yes. I'm positive," the young man reported, his eyes sparkling with glee. "There are four of them -- three men and a woman -- and they say they have come in peace to be our friends."
"Then it is just as the goddess told us it would be," Tanin said with delight. I must contact her immediately."
Rajin kneeled on the floor before the altar, supplicating himself. "Please may I stay brother? May I behold the goddess just this once?"
Tanin frowned, "I do not know if that is wise. Where are the strangers now and who is with them? They should be kept away from the village until we know what the goddess wants done with them."
"Badrin is with them. He has been a priest almost as long as you, brother. He knows what to do. He is keeping them near the chappa'ei and away from the village until I return with instructions from the goddess." Rajin's voice turned pleading, "Please, Tanin. It doesn't make sense for me to go back without an answer. It may make the strangers suspicious."
"Very well, Rajin. I'm sure the goddess will want to hear the news from your own lips anyway, and she may have questions for you. But mind that you do not forget yourself in your excitement, for her wrath is great when she is angered."
"I understand, brother. Thank you!!" Rajin remained kneeling on the floor, rocking back and forth on his knees, the pure joy at the thought of seeing the goddess overcoming any discomfort from prostrating himself on the cold stone.
Tanin went reverently to the large cabinet standing toward the back of the dais in the center of the round chamber and carefully opened the doors. Inside was a mirror, roughly 3' wide by 6' tall. Softly reciting the prayers to the gods and goddesses of the glass that had been taught to him by his elders, he placed his hand on the mirror as he had been instructed. He saw the tiny flash that indicated the message had been sent, then moved back off the dais, dropping to his knees beside his brother as he continued to recite the prayers that he fervently hoped would not only bring the goddess, but would appease her dark fury as well.
Long minutes passed, then on the other side of the mirror the goddess appeared, a wicked, satisfied smile curving her lips; she touched a small control and placed her hand on the mirror. Seconds later, Tanin heard the clump of heavy boots and looked up to see two large, heavily armored guards carrying staff weapons. He clasped his hands and bowed in supplication, anticipation and anxiety warring within him. Finally, the guards parted, stepping to either side to reveal the goddess in all her glory. She towered above the kneeling Tanin clad in form fitting leather that caressed the soft curves of her succulent body.
Tanin bowed his head all the way down to the floor, his heart hammering as he saw the razor thin 4 inch heels of her knee high black leather boots stop inches from his face, and the surety that those heels could easily impale a man if she were angry enough to do so crossed fleetingly across his mind.
"You have news for me?" the goddess asked imperiously, the shoulder length reddish blond hair framing her face seeming to glow with its own light against the starkness of the dark leather that covered the rest of her.
"Yes, most beautiful and powerful of all the goddesses," Tanin said looking up at her quickly, then bowing down again. "Those you seek are here. My brother saw them come through the chappa'ei himself less than an hour ago and brought word to me here in your temple."
"Is that right?" the goddess purred, leaning over to stroke Rajin's cheek.
Rajin moaned with pleasure at her touch and stammered, "Y.y.yes, goddess. It, it is true. They are here. I saw them come through the chappa'ei with my own eyes. There are four, just as you foretold it -- the man called O'Neill, the female called Carter, the one with the eye covering called Daniel and the one with the symbol on his forehead called Teal'c. I came immediately to bring the news to you, for it is my great honor and humble duty to serve you."
The goddess smiled again and her eyes flashed with light. When the glow had faded away, the glint of cruelty and anticipation left in them was lost on the men cowering at her feet. "You have done well, my servants. Now, I need you to do something more for me."
Both men looked up at her in awe. "Whatever you wish goddess," Tanin sighed, "it shall be done immediately."
"It is my honor to serve you," Rajin added, bowing all the way down to the floor.
"Go to the visitors, become friendly with them, tell them about your world and your goddess. But do not, under any circumstances, let them know I have been asking about them, that their arrival has been expected or that I have been here recently, and make sure no one else does either. And do not mention the mirror. When the time comes for them to meet their goddess, I will send word for you to bring them to the temple. But until then, it will be our little secret."
The goddess smiled as she moved closer to the men. When she reached them she ran a hand gently down each of their faces as they stared up at her adoringly, hanging on her every word. "If you do this for me without fail, you will be greatly rewarded. But," she added, as each of her hands tightened painfully on the side of the man's face it had been caressing, "if you fail me, the punishment will be very great."
Both men trembled at the now evil smile on her face and the glow that lit her eyes when she said the words. But then the light faded and the hands holding their faces relaxed, each giving the face it had been holding one last gentle caress. She stepped back as though to go, then stopped directly in front of Tanin. Looking down at him intently and holding his gaze, she shifted until the spiked heel of one of her boots was resting against his inner thigh. "Very great indeed," she repeated. "And as first among my priests, you will be the one to suffer it most severely."
"I will not fail you goddess," he said fervently. "I live only to serve you."
"Then go and serve me well," she commanded before turning and stalking back toward the mirror. The guards waited a few seconds, studying the cowering men contemptuously, before turning and following her.
When he was sure they were gone, Tanin got to his feet unsteadily, terror and adoration warring for control of his body. Rajin was still prostrate on the floor, his head down, arms clasped protectively across his chest, rocking back and forth on his knees. Tanin grabbed his brother's shoulder, trying to shake him out of his terror. "Come, let us serve our goddess," he said fervently.
Rajin looked at him, the terror ebbing when he realized the goddess was gone. The fear was forgotten as an unsteady smile spread slowly across his face. "Yes," he said leaping to his feet. "We must hurry before one of the others says something the goddess does not want the strangers to hear."
Brig. General Jack O'Neill shifted his assault rifle impatiently, knowing he couldn't really use it on the nervous little man flittering around them like an annoying insect, but comforted by the thought that it was there if he needed it. Just give me a good reason, he thought irritably, as he instinctively rechecked his team - Carter's team, he had to remind himself, grateful again that a visit to Stargate Command by its former head, General George Hammond, had given him the opportunity to play hookie from his administrative duties as the new head of the SGC for a little while under the guise of assessing the functioning of his elite team and its new commander in the field.
O'Neill's gaze shifted to Lt. Col. Samantha Carter and he was impressed again by how quickly and easily she had taken her new role to heart, falling naturally into the role of team leader. He could tell by the expression on her face that she also did not like the fact that they'd been on P5C-447 over an hour now and had barely made it 100 feet from the stargate. He watched her eyes move nervously over the surrounding terrain, mirroring his own concerns about the stargate's exposed location in an open valley bordered by a mountain range far to the north and a forest a few hundred yards to the west. To the south and east about a quarter mile away the valley disappeared into hills of varying heights. O'Neill could see well-worn paths among those hills and his soldier's instincts were screaming that staying in the open valley left them sitting ducks for an attack from any direction.
O'Neill exchanged glances with Teal'c, the jaffa warrior and former first prime to the goa'uld Apophis, whose expertise in goa'uld tactics and skill in battle were a major asset to their team, and saw the same concerns mirrored in his eyes. Shifting his gaze back to Carter, O'Neill was glad to see that her leadership instincts had easily overcome her scientist's curiosity to the point that she had moved away from the interesting architecture of the monuments their guide was pointing out to complete the flanking formation that would allow them to cover a retreat back to the gate while still allowing them to protect the fourth, and currently most vulnerable, member of their team.
Dr. Daniel Jackson, the team's resident linguist and archaeologist, was at the center of the flanking maneuver, listening patiently to the ramblings of 'Gnatman' as O'Neill had irreverently decided to refer to their guide, since he couldn't remember the guy's real name and knew it was something close to that, but thought his designation much more fitting for the annoying little fellow.
At barely 5'2" the dark haired man with the intense brown eyes and ferret-like face was almost a foot shorter than Jackson, and O'Neill found it hard to think of him as a viable threat. Jackson had come a long way from the geeky scientist he'd first met almost 10 years ago and could probably put the man down with one well-placed punch, but O'Neill was still wary, having learned from bitter experience not to underestimate any potential enemy. Alien weaponry or the increased physical strength and healing capabilities of a goa'uld symbiote could make even someone as harmless looking as Gnatman into a formidable adversary.
Shortly after their arrival through the gate, the man had appeared from behind one of the monuments closest to the forest, looking totally harmless bundled up in his long brown robe, and introduced himself as a priest from the nearby village. After offering to take them to the village to meet his people, he had gone off on a tangent pointing out the various monuments surrounding the stargate and discussing their history and purpose. Jackson had been dutifully listening and was probably learning all sorts of interesting things about the culture of the inhabitants, but O'Neill was not the least bit interested in what tidbits were being passed on, especially if it meant they had to stay in this exposed position any longer.
O'Neill scanned the half dozen monuments again, automatically calculating how much cover each would afford if it came down to a firefight, even though he had done so several times already. Then he scanned the hills again but could still see no sign of movement on any of the paths. When his attention returned to Jackson, he saw that Gnatman was pointing at some carvings on a tall thin monument and Daniel was nodding thoughtfully at whatever he was saying.
If patience was a virtue, then Jackson was one of the most virtuous people O'Neill thought he'd ever met. And right now O'Neill was doubly glad for Jackson's abundance of it since he'd decided that meant he didn't need to cultivate any of his own. It was obvious the little man was stalling them, and O'Neill had decided it was time to call him on it.
As he opened his mouth to call out to Carter, she turned toward him with her mouth open as if she had been getting ready to call out to him, and he read the same thoughts in her eyes. Before either of them could say anything, there was the sound of hushed voices and hurrying feet from the direction Gnatman had first appeared. Almost as one, O'Neill, Teal'c and Carter raised their weapons and began scanning the area, fingers on triggers, ready to fire at the first sign of trouble. O'Neill was pleased to note that Daniel had also heard the sounds and had pulled his 9mm while putting some distance between himself and Gnatman.
"Please! Do not use your weapons on them!" Gnatman said frantically as two men dressed in robes similar to his appeared around the side of the monument he had been showing Daniel. "Rajin and Tanin also serve the goddess. Tanin is our high priest. The goddess will be especially displeased if he is injured or killed."
Seeing that O'Neill's weapon was pointed directly at his chest, Tanin held his hands out, palms upward to indicate he was unarmed and then bowed low to the visitors. Rajin followed his brother's lead, making sure he was not hidden by his brother and could be clearly seen.
"Honored guests," Tanin said with a smile, "we welcome you. It has been many years since visitors have arrived through the chappa'ei. Your presence brings me great joy, and I look forward to learning of your people. I am Tanin, high priest of the temple of the great and mighty goddess Maleficent. And I am at your service," he concluded with a deep bow.
"Maleficent?" Daniel asked, perplexed, turning to speak quietly to the rest of the SG-1 team. "That's an English adverbial form of 'wicked or evil.' The "mal" root carries the "wicked" or "evil" connotation in many languages, but I've never heard that particular form used to connote any god or goddess in any of the cultures I've studied."
O'Neill looked equally perplexed. "Yeah, whatever. But I know I've heard that name before."
"You have?" Daniel responded skeptically.
"Yes, he has," Carter interrupted. "Don't you remember? When Cassandra first came to live with Janet she spent hours watching all those Disney cartoons. Maleficent was the evil witch who cast the spell on Sleeping Beauty."
"Yes!" O'Neill said enthusiastically. "I knew I knew that name."
"Sleeping Beauty?" Daniel asked, raising his eyebrow at the thought of the rough and tumble Air Force General sitting in front of that particular Disney cartoon.
"It was Cassandra's favorite," O'Neill responded defensively. "I watched her for Janet a couple of times, so I had to watch it with her."
"Uh huh," Daniel replied dubiously.
"At least there was a happy ending. Most of that gods and goddesses mythological crap you're always spouting ends with everybody dead, dying or going to die."
"Well, it's not my fault the goa'uld usually decide to portray gods and goddesses that aren't very nice. I think it would be hard for them to work up the same level of fear and terror from their subjects if they were strutting around pretending to be Cinderella's fairy godmother."
"Hey, guys. Break it up," Carter interjected. "We have company, remember."
"Right. Sorry," Daniel said, turning his attention back to Tanin. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tanin. My name is Daniel Jackson, this is Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter and Teal'c.
Tanin bowed low again. "Welcome to you all. This is my brother, Rajin. He is also a priest of the temple. And, of course, you have already met Badrin."
"Badrin," O'Neill muttered under his breath, "gotta remember that."
"Rajin," Daniel acknowledged, copying Tanin's bow, then turning his attention back to the high priest. "Tanin, we are curious about your goddess. Does she come to visit you personally. I mean, does she appear to you in the flesh?"
Tanin and Rajin exchanged quick, nervous glances that were not lost on any of those watching them. "The goddess comes to us from time to time, although she has not been here for quite awhile."
"When she comes, does she come through the stargate?" At the man's confused expression, Daniel quickly amended, "the chappa'ei? Or perhaps by ship?"
"Oh, no . . . ," Badrin started to say, his voice trailing away as Tanin gave him a harsh look and cut him off, saying "The goddess has her own ways and we are not fit to question them. She comes when it suits her and does so in whatever fashion pleases her at that moment."
"I see," Daniel said slowly. "So she doesn't always arrive the same way?"
"She is a goddess," Tanin responded, "with powers far beyond those of any of her humble servants. She does as she pleases."
The members of SG-1 exchanged quick glances to acknowledge that they all realized the man had not answered the question. "How far is the village from here?" Carter asked.
"It is not far," Tanin replied. "Please forgive my rudeness. You must be hungry and tired after your journey. We will take you to the village to rest and nourish yourselves. Rajin and Badrin will go ahead to alert the villagers that we have guests so they will not be afraid when you appear among them, especially since you are carrying weapons and I assume you would not be willing to leave them behind."
"No, we wouldn't," O'Neill said amiably, cutting off Daniel who'd just opened his mouth to speak.
"Of course," Tanin said agreeably. "So Rajin and Badrin will warn the villagers not to be afraid and will tell them to prepare food and drink so they are ready upon your arrival. Please, come this way," he said, pointing toward the forest.
Thirty minutes later the four travelers and their guide entered the village. Daniel was struck immediately by the contrasts, since the architecture appeared to be a fusion of 17th century European and early Egyptian. Structures of both styles coexisted side by side and there were examples of each that appeared to have built during the same time periods. Fascinated, he pulled out his video camera and took shots of the different structures as they continued on their way. Finally, they came to a building that looked like an old English tavern. The sign outside read "The Looking Glass" with the words surrounded by a frame and a background that looked like a mirror.
That's a strange name for a pub," Carter remarked.
"It is a throwback to the days when our glassmakers were considered the finest craftsmen on the planet," Tanin explained. "They made some of the most exquisite glassware and mirrors that have ever been seen. Sadly those most skilled in the art were taken from us before they could pass their secrets to the next generation. So, we still have glassmakers, but they are of ordinary skill, and our glass is no longer prized by all those who see it."
"You said your glassmakers were 'taken'," Daniel queried, "taken by whom?"
"The gods perhaps," Tanin responded. "No one is sure. All I know is that one day, perhaps 30 years ago, everyone woke up to find the glassmakers gone. I was only a small boy at the time so I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. Some said that they were killed by jealous rivals from another town and the bodies were buried or destroyed. Others said the gods were so enthralled by their beautiful creations that they took them to live with them among the stars. Either way, none of them ever returned."
"Haven't you asked the goddess if she knows what happened to them?" Carter asked.
Tanin seemed surprised by the question. "No. It never occurred to me. They disappeared so long ago and the goddess only came to us for the first time four years ago."
"Then she has not always been one of your gods?" Teal'c interjected.
"No," Tanin replied. "Before the goddess came, none of the gods had visited us in person in hundreds of years. We had begun to believe they had forsaken us. But then the goddess came and explained that the gods had been fighting amongst themselves and that she had won the battle for our world. It is our honor and our privilege to serve her and, in turn, she protects us and our world from the wrath and fury of the other gods."
"Does this goddess have glowing eyes?" O'Neill asked abruptly.
Tanin looked startled. "Occasionally her eyes glow, yes."
"Uh huh," O'Neill said. "I thought so."
"Tanin," Daniel interrupted, giving O'Neill a quick glare, "we need to speak with you privately about the goddess. She is not what she appears to be, and your people are in great danger from her."
"Nonsense," Tanin replied dismissively. "The goddess loves and protects us. She would never harm us. You must not say such things. Come, come into the pub and have food and drink. Our people will be anxious to meet our visitors from the chappa'ei."
Not giving them time to argue, Tanin opened the door and entered the pub. The members of SG-1 exchanged concerned looks. Carter looked at O'Neill questioningly and he replied, "It's your call, Colonel."
"Then let's do it," she said decisively and followed Tanin inside. The others followed close behind, weapons at the ready.
The first thing O'Neill noticed when he walked through the door was that the place was crowded with people to the point they could barely move without bumping into each other. When they caught sight of SG-1, they began to chatter excitedly among themselves. Like the town itself, the people appeared to be of mixed Egyptian-European heritage - in some it was a striking contrast with dark hair capping fair skinned, freckled faces or reddish brown hair capping finely chiseled features with high cheekbones and dark eyes. The clothing they wore was also an amalgam of the twin heritage -- long tunics offset by dark capes or European style dresses or shirts and trousers in fabrics featuring Egyptian patterns, symbols and borderwork.
O'Neill tightened his grip on his assault rifle as he studied the crowd, which by his quick count numbered over 80. He wasn't sure how they'd managed to fit so many into the small space but he very much didn't like that they were there. Being outnumbered 20 to 1 made him very uncomfort-able despite the fact that they were armed and the townspeople did not appear to be, but he still didn't want to be forced to test those odds.
"Friends," Tanin called out forcefully to the crowd as he noted O'Neill's obvious discomfort and the tightened grip on his weapon, "please calm yourselves. You are overwhelming our visitors with your enthusiasm. They are here to learn from us, as we are anxious to learn from them. Please do not undermine this rare and wonderful opportunity by frightening them off."
The murmurs in the crowd stopped, but the people remained standing, waiting breathlessly until Tanin spoke again.
"People of Aurelia, I am pleased to present our visitors, Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter, Teal'c and Daniel Jackson. They come to us through the chappa'ei bringing greetings and well wishes from their people and the hope that our two peoples will become friends and allies. By the will of the goddess, let it be so!"
The crowd cheered enthusiastically.
The members of SG-1 had lined up side-by-side during their introductions and each nodded their head or gave a slight wave of the hand as their name was called. Tanin was standing in front of them, partially blocking their view of the crowd, but O'Neill and Jackson, having a less obstructed view because they were taller than him and were standing toward the sides, both noticed several robed men in the crowd start whispering excitedly to each other when Teal'c was introduced. O'Neill also noticed something else that concerned him.
"Do you see Rajin and . . . that other one," O'Neill whispered to Carter, "damn, what's his name again," he added to himself, now unable to get the name 'gnatman' out of his head.
"Badrin, sir," Carter whispered back. "And you're right. I don't see them here either."
"Kelden, do you have food and drink prepared for our visitors?" Tanin asked.
"Aye, I do," replied a large man with reddish brown hair and blue eyes, smiling brightly. From the large apron tied around his substantial belly O'Neill guessed he was the proprietor of the establishment, and that conclusion was confirmed when the man added, "I've even brought out some of my special homebrew for the occasion. Only the best for such a momentous occasion."
That announcement brought an even more enthusiastic cheer from the crowd.
"Come now, all of you. There's not even room to take a breath in here. Let's be moving into the hall," Kelden said, gesturing toward a set of double doors on the far side of the room. "There's plenty of food and drink for everyone there."
"That's a relief," Daniel said quietly to his companions. "I was wondering how they expected everyone to be able to eat together in here."
"Let us hope the other room is much larger," Teal'c responded. "I do not wish to be in such close quarters with so many strangers."
"Yeah," Carter chimed in. "I'd prefer a little more personal space myself."
O'Neill remained silent as the villagers slowly filed into the adjoining room, laughing and talking amongst themselves. Tanin and Kelden remained behind, providing a buffer between SG-1 and the curious who lagged behind hoping to have the first word with the strangers.
"That's right, go into the other room and help yourselves to refreshments. Our new friends will be along in a moment. They are a bit overwhelmed by the enthusiastic greeting they've received and need a few moments to compose themselves." The smile never left Tanin's face as he ushered the last of the villagers through the double doors and quickly closed them.
"Is everything all right?" Tanin asked SG-1 anxiously. "You all seem quite distressed. Have our people offended you in some way?"
"No," Daniel responded quickly. "Not at all, Tanin. Your people seem very kind and have greeted us with warmth and openness. We just found it a little disconcerting to suddenly be thrust in the midst of so many at once in such a confined area."
"Then all is well and you are ready to join in the feast?"
Daniel exchanged quick glances with Carter and O'Neill, who simply shrugged.
"Before we do that, I'd like to ask you something. Where is the temple?"
The man's smile faltered a little, but he responded easily, "It is in a valley on the other side of the hills near the chappa'ei."
"I would like to go there later, after the celebration is over. Would that be possible?"
"After the celebration?" the man's smile grew brighter again, with what Daniel could only categorize as relief. "Most certainly. I feared you were going to disappoint our people by asking to go now. They have so many questions for you about what lies beyond the chappa'ei. Please, please come this way."
Tanin led them into a room that to SG-1's immense relief was almost ten times the size of the pub area. "This must be where all the village celebrations are held," Daniel commented, examining the architecture closely.
"Those that are not held in the temple," Tanin acknowledged.
"It appears as if it takes up the back section of three or four shops," Carter commented.
"That is so. You may have noticed that the three shops next to the pub are those of the baker, the butcher and the fishmonger. Since those three shops and the pub provide most of the food and beverages for village celebrations, it was decided to place the hall back here for the convenience of all."
As they watched, men and women rushed back and forth from the open doors leading to the four shops, carrying out large platters of food and huge jugs of various types of drinks that seemed to empty as soon as they were placed on the banquet tables. There were four times as many people in this room than had been in the pub, but the size of the room and its spaciousness kept it from feeling crowded. Large family-size wooden tables and chairs were strategically placed around the room and many of the villagers were already seated at them, laughing and talking as they consumed their meals.
"Please, help yourselves to whatever looks pleasing to you," Tanin said, gesturing to the banquet tables. "You must be tired after all this excitement. Sit, relax and take nourishment. And if you wish to sit and talk with any of our people, I'm sure they would greatly enjoy it."
As they moved over to the nearest banquet table, Teal'c asked, "Do you believe it is wise to partake of this food without having it tested first?"
Carter watched several villagers take hearty portions from the table and seat themselves. "They have no way of telling what we'll eat and what we won't, so I don't think there's any way it could be drugged or poisoned," she said. "Even so, it's probably best if we all eat from different tables. It'll be easier for them to slip us something if it looks like we're all eating from the same source. And keep an eye on each other. If anyone starts to feel sick, let the rest of us know right away and we'll move out immediately. Keep your weapons close and don't let them out of your sight."
"And make sure you stay away from Kelden's special homebrew," O'Neill added. "If those guys are any indication," he said, nodding toward some obviously drunken men, laughing uproariously at a nearby table, "it's the most dangerous thing here. In fact, stay away from the drinks altogether. If they're going to try and slip us anything, it's most likely going to be through liquids. Drink only what's in your canteens."
The other three nodded in agreement and spread out across the large room, picking up small quantities of various types of foods from the heavily laden banquet tables. O'Neill chose some meat that looked a bit like roast beef from the table nearest him as he kept a discreet eye on the rest of the team.
"Jack O'Neill! Please, come join us," Tanin said, indicating a chair next to him at a nearby table. As he sat, O'Neill recognized Kelden, the pub owner, but the other 9 occupants of the table were strangers. He resigned himself to having to attempt to remember their names as Tanin began the introductions.
Three hours later, O'Neill rubbed his aching head, wishing for a goa'uld attack or any other distraction that could get him away from these people. It wasn't that they were doing anything in particular that concerned him; it was simply that they were an entire society of Badrins, buzzing around him, constantly asking if he needed or wanted anything, being a nuisance simply by their constant presence.
He did another visual on the team. Not surprisingly, Daniel was surrounded by a group of people and was embroiled in an animated discussion. Carter was talking intently with a smaller group, and from the motions she was making with her hands, it was clear they were discussing something mechanical or technical. He was pleased to see that despite her obvious involvement in the conversation, her eyes were taking in the rest of the room and her team as she spoke. His eyes continued their scan of the room, then stopped and a smile pulled at the corners of his lips when he located Teal'c sitting at a table on the other side of the room with several of the villagers. He was wearing his most stoic expression as they talked animatedly around him.
It's good to know I'm not the only one being driven nuts by these people, O'Neill thought to himself, taking a quick swig from his canteen to wash away the sour taste of the fruit he had just made the mistake of trying. It had looked like pineapple, but his taste buds had quickly confirmed that appearances could be deceiving.
He noticed Kelden's eyes staring intently across the room and he casually moved himself into a position where he could follow the man's gaze without being obvious about it. Tanin had excused himself from the table a few minutes earlier on the pretext of visiting the dessert table. O'Neill was interested to see that, instead, the man was standing just outside the door between the hall and the pub, talking intently with someone. The man seemed distressed at whatever his companion was saying and finally nodded his head in resignation. As he turned back toward the hall, O'Neill quickly shifted his gaze to the other side of the room before Tanin could realize he'd been watching. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a quick glimpse of Tanin's companion and was fairly certain it had been Badrin.
Tanin came back into the room, a strained smile plastered on his face. When he returned to the table, he picked up a spoon and an empty jug and began hitting the jug with the spoon, creating a loud resonating sound that reverberated around the large space, quieting all conversation.
"Friends," he said. "We have had a pleasant and enjoyable feast with our visitors, but now you must wish them good day. Our guests have requested the opportunity to visit the temple to pay their respects to our beloved goddess, and it is necessary for us to leave shortly if we are to make the journey in daylight."
Heads nodded in reverence at the mention of the goddess. Daniel heard one of the women at his table murmur, "May the Goddess of the Glass watch over and protect us," and felt the prickle of goosebumps rising on his arms. Unnerved, he looked around at the villagers, but saw only average, ordinary people.
I'm just overreacting to knowing there's a goa'uld out there somewhere, he thought to himself, rubbing his arms distractedly to chase the gooseflesh away. He smiled at the people at his table, said his goodbyes and moved to join his friends.
It took almost an hour to reach the top of the hill leading down to the valley that held the temple. When they reached the top, Daniel looked down and felt the goosebumps rise on his arms again. In the center of the valley was a pyramid.
"Is it . . . ?" Carter started to ask.
"Yes." Daniel cut her off, suddenly hesitant to reveal how much they knew to their guide. He squinted down at the temple/goa'uld landing platform through his sunglasses, which were failing to deflect all of the bright light of the setting sun, trying to judge from the exterior of the structure how long it had been since an alien ship had settled there.
"I don't think anything's been there for awhile," he finally said cryptically to his companions. The other members of SG-1 nodded their understanding, while Tanin looked confused.
"Is anyone in the temple now?" Carter asked Tanin.
"Rajin, Badrin and a few other priests have gone ahead to ensure all is in order for your visit," Tanin responded.
"Then I guess we better not keep them waiting," O'Neill said. "Let's go, campers."
By the time they reached the front entrance of the temple, the sun had almost completely set. Daniel pulled off his sunglasses and put on his reading glasses to check some inscriptions at the front of the temple. "There are references to Isis, Osiris and Seth. That probably explains why the 'gods' were absent from here for so long. The planet was somehow overlooked by the other system lords while they were stuck on Earth."
"What about Ra?" Carter asked. "He was connected to them. Wouldn't he have known about any planets they knew about."
Daniel shrugged, "We've seen that the goa'uld fight among themselves quite often. It's very possible this planet was found by Isis, Osiris and Seth during a period when they were estranged from or at war with Ra and they never got a chance to tell him about it. We'll have to see if there are any references to Ra inside before drawing any firm conclusions. We know someone else has to have been here at a later time."
"We do?" O'Neill asked.
Daniel tried not to wince at the question. O'Neill often appeared incredibly dense, but knowing that many times it was just an act to put off their enemies, Daniel was sometimes caught by surprise when the man genuinely didn't seem to know something that was obvious to everyone else.
"The villagers themselves, the architecture and the clothing appear to be a fusion of 17th century European and early Egyptian. Since Seth, Osiris and Isis were trapped on Earth for two millenia, somebody else has to be responsible for the 17th century European influence."
"Oh, yeah. Right," O'Neill said.
"I do not understand. You speak of these gods as if you know them," Tanin said uneasily.
"We were briefly acquainted with Osiris and Seth before their deaths. Isis was already dead when we found her," O'Neill responded briskly.
"Dead?" Tanin said. "They are gods. How could they die?"
"They were false gods," Teal'c said vehemently. "Human hosts infested by the goa'uld and used for their purposes."
"I do not understand," Tanin said looking from O'Neill to Jackson and back again for an explanation.
"The goa'uld are symbiotic creatures that look something like large worms," Daniel explained as he continued to examine the symbols on the front of the pyramid. "When they enter a human host, they bond with it and take control of its central nervous system. The symbiote has the ability to heal a great many injuries and keep the host alive much longer than normal, so the host appears godlike to those who don't understand what's happened. That's what we wanted to talk to you about earlier. We believe your goddess is a goa'uld."
"They also possess advanced technology that allows them to do things like transporting from a ship to the ground or destroying a target, such as a town or village, from space, which also makes them appear godlike," Carter added.
Tanin appeared overwhelmed by the information they'd given him. "We should get inside before the light is totally gone," he murmured distractedly. "The temperature drops precipitously once the sun goes all the way down."
The tension level among the SG-1 members went up appreciably as they entered the temple. Although he would have preferred to have been able to go right to the inscriptions on the walls, Daniel pulled his zat and stayed with the rest of the team, holding it at the ready. He noted that Teal'c had his staff weapon in firing position, while Carter and O'Neill spread out on either side of him to cover the rest of the area in front of them with their assault rifles.
"Why does the temple concern you so?" Tanin asked.
The question struck Daniel as odd, especially since, in his past experience, temple attendants were usually indignant that anyone would dare carry weapons into the temple at all, let alone have them held at the ready, prepared to fire.
"Many of the goa'uld we've encountered in the past have used temples like this one as their headquarters when they visit a planet. There are many places for them to hide until they're ready to launch an assault."
Tanin shook his head sadly. "It is inappropriate for you to act this way in the temple, but as you are our guests, I cannot forbid it. I just hope you do not bring the goddess' wrath down upon us by defiling her temple. Come, the central chamber is this way."
They went down several empty corridors and took several turns before reaching a large double door with intricate carvings around it.
"More Isis, Osiris and Seth, no Ra," Daniel said glancing at the carvings quickly. "Can anyone open the door," he asked Tanin, "or is it coded only for the priests?"
Tanin's perplexed expression was Jackson's answer, so he reached over and thumbed the door control himself. The doors parted to reveal a large round room with a raised dais in the middle which held an elaborate throne in its center and a 7 ft. tall cabinet toward the back.
The other members of SG-1 swept the room with their weapons as Daniel stepped up on the dais to look at the throne and cabinet. On the front of the cabinet was an intricate carving of a mirror. Daniel peered closely, running his fingers carefully along the engraving and reported absently, "The wood of the cabinet looks very old but there's writing engraved in it that looks more recent. The language is goa'uld," he added excitedly, then his expression turned pensive.
"What does it say, Daniel?" Carter asked impatiently.
"I don't understand how this can be," Daniel said, going back and reading it again. "It says 'mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?'"
"That's from Snow White," Carter said, perplexed.
"Very good, Samantha," came a sultry female voice from the far side of the room. "And as to who the fairest one is, I think everyone here would agree that would be me."
Tanin had remained near the entrance in front of the dais and Carter saw him drop to his knees at the woman's first words. The door she had come from was cloaked in shadows so they could not make out her features right away, but Carter couldn't help the niggling feeling that something about that voice was very, very familiar. All eyes followed the woman, who moved with a sexy swagger as if enjoying being the center of everyone's attention; when she finally stepped into the light, there was a collective gasp from the members of SG-1.
"Janet!" Sam cried out. "I don't understand. How can this be? And why are you dressed like that?" she added, taking in the black leather skirt that reached just above the knees and gently caressed every curve of the petite doctor's body on its way there, then the black leather bustier that was tied in such a way as to leave none of the woman's attributes to the imagination. Sam's eyes finally made it to black leather boots that reached all the way up to her knee and ended at the floor on razor thin 4" spiked heels.
Sam tore her gaze from the woman to gauge the men's reactions. O'Neill and Teal'c were staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed and Daniel looked as if he'd been punched in the gut.
"Oh, no," Daniel finally managed to force out.
"No, what?" Sam asked, an edge of fear in her voice.
"Mirrors, all of this has been about mirrors. It's been right there in front of us all along."
"Mirrors?" Sam repeated, then her eyes widened in comprehension. "They have another quantum mirror!"
"Bravo, darlings," the woman said mockingly, giving a feint clap. "But, I'm a little disappointed in how long it took you to figure it out. I certainly scattered enough clues around for you. Perhaps you aren't as bright as the others after all. But we'll find that out soon enough won't we," and her eyes flashed with light.
Teal'c immediately brought his staff weapon up to fire, but was thrown backward by the force of a zat blast before he could get off a shot. The others didn't even have time to react before they were surrounded by a phalanx of jaffa guards armed with a mixture of staff weapons, zats and U.S. military issue assault rifles.
"Now, now, boys. Don't get overly protective. You know I don't want any of them injured . . . yet," the woman said in her sultry voice as she walked over to the throne and slid onto it, carelessly tossing her legs over one of its arms, while propping an elbow on the other and using that hand to brace her head. The pose was coquettish and sexy at the same time and Sam noted that several of the guards seemed less interested in their prisoners than in watching their goddess' legs as they moved in the skin-tight leather to shift her into a more comfortable position.
"Take all their weapons and equipment, and don't forget their jackets and boots. And make sure you check their legs and pants for hidden knives or guns. We don't want a repeat of that unpleasantness from last time do we?" she said with a companionable smile, as if they were just sharing some small talk.
When all that she had ordered had been done and the members of SG-1 were standing before her in only their khaki pants and black undershirts, she smiled at them. It was a warm, friendly smile, so much like one their Janet Fraiser would have given them that Sam felt her heart twisting in her chest and tears trying to force themselves from her eyes. Most days it was impossible to believe that Janet was gone, but it was far worse to have to look at this caricature of the person who at one time had been her best friend. Sam turned her gaze to the other members of the team and was relieved and saddened to see that the expressions on their faces mirrored her thoughts.
"Who are you?" O'Neill finally asked, suppressed fury edging the words.
"Oh, Jack, you know the answer to that," the woman responded with a giggle.
"He doesn't mean who your host is, he means who you are, the goa'uld inside the host," Daniel added angrily.
"Tsk, tsk. You're being predictable again, Daniel. I know you can't help it, but it does get tedious after awhile. If you really think it would be easier to call me by some other name than that of my host, then you should use the one Tanin or one of the others is sure to have told you they use for me."
"Maleficent," Sam said coldly.
The woman laughed heartily. "Isn't it wonderfully appropriate, Sam. After all, I'm such a bad girl now. So very, very wicked and evil."
"How long . . . ," O'Neill's voice trailed off before he could finish the question.
"How long ago did it happen?" Maleficent said in her mocking tone. "It's difficult to remember exactly -- four, maybe five years ago. That miserable little Asgard, Thor, convinced us to enter into negotiations with the system lords Yu, Niirti and Cronus to get Earth covered under the protected planets treaty. What we didn't know was that the Asgard were in serious trouble in their battle against the replicators and had sold us out for promises of help from the system lords. Before we realized what had happened, the base had been overrun by jaffa and most of the staff were dead or captured. Goa'uld ships entered orbit shortly thereafter and were able to make quick work of the major world capitals and government installations.
"Cronus had chosen me as his new queen before we arrived, then was captivated by Dr. Fraiser when she was captured and chose her as my new host. As soon as I discovered the information about the mirror in her mind, I knew that it had been fate. And the rest, as they say, is history," she added, stretching one of her legs as she shifted position on the throne again, "at least in my reality anyway.
"Now that your curiosity has been sated a bit, I think it's time for the boys to go away for awhile. We girls need to have a very important discussion. Just think of it as some quality girlfriend time so we can get caught up on each other's lives," she said to Sam, giving her a wink as another wicked smile played across her lips.
Sam watched with concern as her teammates' hands and feet were shackled and the guards started to lead them from the room.
Daniel stopped suddenly and shouted, "Be careful what you tell her. She doesn't know everything our Janet knows."
One of the guards quickly stepped up, driving the butt of a rifle into Daniel's stomach, causing him to double up in agony and fall to the floor. "Get up and keep quiet unless you want more of the same," the guard snarled holding the rifle up threateningly.
Daniel struggled back to his feet but leaned over cradling his aching stomach as the men were led from the room.
Sam had managed to restrain herself when he was hit, but her hands were tightly clenched into fists at her sides and she was trembling with rage. "What do you want," she snarled as soon as they were out of sight.
"Now, now, Samantha. You're being so short-tempered. Haven't you missed me at all?"
"I don't know you, so I don't have any reason to miss you," Sam responded heatedly.
"And we used to be such good friends," Maleficent said, putting Janet Fraiser's lips into a delicate pout.
Sam turned her back, trying to rein in her emotions. It was more difficult than she had ever imagined possible to look into that particular face and have to accept that there was a monster inside its body.
"How are things going with, Jack?" Janet Fraiser's voice asked conspiratorially. "Have you two done the nasty yet?"
Sam turned back to her unable to hide the shock on her face.
"No? What a pity. It would make things so much easier if you had. The two of you that were involved with him were much more cooperative -- once I started hurting him that is. The others were much more difficult. I have to tell you, it hasn't been easy finding realities where you've all made it this far still alive and free. There are so many more where the goa'uld have already taken over and all or most of you are dead.
"Do you know what's really interesting, Samantha? In all the realities I've found so far where your people are still free, all four of you are there. It seems that there isn't just one of you that's the key to your success, it's the combination of the four. In any reality where, for any reason, one of you didn't make it onto the team or fell along the way, everything's gone to hell in a handcart. Don't you find that fascinating?"
"Not really," Sam responded tightly, using the question as a focus to pull her errant emotions together after this unexpected turn of events. "We work well together and we each have different strengths and weaknesses. Together we balance each other out."
"Well said. With that in mind, don't you think it's important to keep the team together, to make sure that nothing bad happens to any of the boys so the four of you can go on saving the world together?"
Sam stared at her suspiciously, sensing a trap closing around her, but not sure how to step to avoid it. "What do you want?" she finally asked again.
"Sam, Sam, Sam. I just need a little bit of your technical expertise with a small problem I'm having. Then I'll go away and leave you and your boys in peace in this reality. After all, there are plenty more out there for me to play in."
"I don't understand what you're talking about," Sam said with frustration. "What exactly is it that you want me to do?"
Maleficent sighed heavily, "I hope you're being deliberately obtuse and aren't simply stupid in this reality. Very well, I'll spell it out for you -- entropic cascade failure -- I want you to figure out a way around it so I can travel to any reality I want and stay there as long as I want."
Sam let out laugh tinged with disbelief, "Let me get this straight. You've come here to get me to change the laws of physics for you, and that's all you want? Well, let me make this as simple as possible so there's no misunderstanding. It's impossible. It can't be done. Not by me, not by anybody."
"Really," Maleficent said unconcerned. "Maybe you should see what the other yous came up with before their . . . untimely demises before making such sweeping statements." She nodded at one of her attendants who was standing near the door she had first appeared through. The woman reached in and pulled out a small device that looked like a palm pilot and a stack of computer printouts and brought them to Sam.
"Melina will take you into the next room where you can sit and study these materials in peace. Of course, there will be guards keeping an eye on you, but they'll be very quiet. When you're done, we can chat some more."
"What about the Ge . . . Jack and the others?" Sam asked, catching herself before giving away O'Neill's title in case the woman was unaware of his new position as head of Stargate Command.
Maleficent smiled agreeably, "You have my word they will be kept safe until our discussions are completed. But what happens to them after that is entirely up to you."
Sam spent more than two hours examining the data and reports, slightly disconcerted to find her own name attached to so many of them and a bit impressed at the amount of progress her other selves had made on the problem. For the first time since Maleficent had set the problem in front of her, she believed it might really be possible for her to find a way around it.
Stop thinking like that, she ordered herself. That creature cannot be allowed to have that information, no matter what the cost. If she ever learns how to beat entropic cascade failure, she'll be unstoppable. She can recruit armies from one reality to take over any other reality.
No matter what the cost. The words reverberated in Sam's mind as she thought about Teal'c, Daniel and Jack being led away in shackles. Her heart clenched at the thought of having to watch helplessly as any one of them was tortured, and she had a moment of doubt as to whether she'd be able to stand up to that sight without breaking. Somewhere along the way, those three men had become part of her family, part of her being. Anytime she knew any of them was hurting, she hurt with them. But she also knew her duty to the SGC and as the head of SG-1 might leave no other alternative. We must stop her - no matter what the cost.
Her dark thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the attendant who had brought her into the room, "if you are finished, the goddess will see you now," the woman said softly, her head down, eyes focused on the floor, as if she feared bringing attention to herself.
"Fine," Sam said bitterly. "Let's get this over with."
The woman led her back into the main room, where she found Maleficent had added a small table next to the throne and a small padded stool on the other side of the table. A bowl of ripe, delicious-looking fruit and a tray of crackers and cheese adorned the table. There were also two glasses filled with a liquid that looked suspiciously like wine or champagne.
Maleficent was still sitting on the throne but was no longer draped across it. "Samantha," she said with obvious delight. "It's so good to see you again. Come, sit down and have something to eat while we chat. I hope you have good news for me."
"I'll admit the . . . others . . . came up with some interesting theories, but none of them are going to go anywhere," Sam said, ignoring the invitation to sit and trying to keep her voice clinical and detached. "You're asking me to change the laws of physics and it just doesn't work that way. It may be possible to delay the effects of entropic cascade failure, but they can't be avoided forever. You're asking for the impossible and I can't give it to you."
"That's a pity, Sam. I'm really sorry you feel that way. And the boys will be very, very sorry too," Maleficent said resignedly, shaking her head as if she had expected that answer but was disappointed by it. "The others felt that way at first, too, but it was amazing how quickly they changed their tunes once they had the proper 'motivation.'
"Have you ever heard a man scream, Samantha?" she continued conversationally, reaching for her wine glass, and looking intently at Sam over its rim as she took a sip and smiled with pleasure - whether it was because she enjoyed the taste or was enjoying her cat and mouse game, Sam couldn't be sure.
"I mean really scream in horrible agony when he knows the pain is being inflicted deliberately and there's no way to make it stop? I realize you've heard them screaming in pain on the battlefield, but it's not the same. Those are the sounds of frightened, wounded animals. The other is a much more unnatural sound."
The woman smiled conspiratorially at Sam again, as if they were simply sharing some girl talk. "After all, men are supposed to be brave and strong and stoic, aren't they? They're supposed to just suck it up and take it, just like John Wayne in those old movies. But it doesn't happen that way in real life, does it, Sam? And this is real life." The woman's cold eyes met Sam's directly, as she sat casually twirling the remaining liquid in her glass.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" Sam asked coldly, trying to still the ripple of fear that was in fact moving through her stomach. "You're a goa'uld. You get pleasure out of other people's pain, so you'll take any excuse you can get to cause that pain. Even if I were to try to do what you want, you'd find some other excuse to hurt them."
"Perhaps that's true," Maleficent said, the cruel gleam in her eye in sharp contrast to the playful smile on her face, "but I would have to show some good faith by delaying my 'entertainment,' and that would buy you and the boys some time to come up with one of those infamous SG-1 'just in the nick of time' escapes, wouldn't it?"
"Obviously, that strategy hasn't worked for me in any of the other realities," Sam replied coldly, "or we wouldn't be here now."
Maleficent cocked her head and gave a delighted laugh, "But that's the beauty of it, Samantha, and what makes it such a magnificent game. Every reality is different, even if it's only slightly different. And I never know what exactly is going to be different. Maybe this is the one where you outwit me and escape. I admit the odds aren't in your favor, but you do have a few advantages. Obviously time has become my enemy in this reality. While I was amusing myself elsewhere, your life and the boys' lives may have deviated significantly from the other realities. What really important things have I missed? How have your relationships changed? What don't I know that's going to shift the balance in your favor?
"All of that's worth thinking about before you make any rash decisions," Maleficent said, cocking her head and smiling as she dipped a strawberry into the remaining liquid in her glass. "And while you're thinking about that, Samantha, keep in mind that my host was a doctor, so once I do decide to start entertaining myself, I know exactly what to do to make it hurt and hurt and hurt while keeping them from losing consciousness. And, of course, they just keep screaming the whole time." The woman kept her cold eyes focused on Sam as she spoke, then smiled wickedly before taking a bite from the ripe, fresh strawberry.
A trail of dark red juice slipped from the corner of Maleficent's mouth down to her chin, looking so much like a trail of blood, it sent a fresh flutter of nerves through Sam's stomach. She kept her face set in a mask of suppressed fury and remained silent, fighting the urge to leap forward and shove the rest of the strawberries down the woman's vile throat.
"Nothing to say. What a pity. Very well then, which of them should go first?" Maleficent asked carelessly. "I'll let you choose. Which one of your men do you think can bear up most under sustained torture? Or, more importantly, which one do you think you can most bear to see tortured?
"It's a difficult question, isn't it?" the woman continued conversationally. "If it helps at all, you usually choose Teal'c -- but, then, this one doesn't have a symbiote anymore, does he? You should know that came as quite a surprise to me. A very, very interesting surprise. That and the hair. I just love the hair!" she said with an amused laugh. "Perhaps I can get him to tell me how all that came about -- if he's still able to talk once things get underway that is. Hmm, come to think of it maybe this time he wouldn't be such a wise choice to go first after all.
"How about Daniel? Hmm, that's a tough one. He is a civilian after all. Do you really have the right to sacrifice him? And you should know that he doesn't usually bear up as well as the others. He's not a soldier after all, so he doesn't have all that macho stoicism drilled into him like Jack and Teal'c do." The woman gave another wolfish smile, "but then, again, this one has obviously been working out. There's definitely some brawn to go along with all those brains this time. Maybe we should test the limits of his endurance - in more ways than one. Doesn't that sound like fun?" she asked with a girlish giggle.
Sam only glared at her with cold disgust.
"Really, Samantha, my you used to love talking about the boys' 'assets' over a nice glass of wine. You really need to relax a little and get into the spirit of things. You've become such an old stick in the mud." She shook her head sadly, as if disappointed in Sam.
"Anyway, that brings us last, but certainly not least, to Jack," the woman said with a secretive smile. "But don't worry, dear, I've already figured out the hard way that he shouldn't go first. Once he dies, you become very obstinate, almost as if you think there's nothing left to live for, and we don't want that, do we."
Sam stood stock still trying to control the flood of emotion that wanted to break free and cascade over her, washing away all reason so she could give in to the desire to jump the woman and pummel the smug, condescending look off her face. She knew she wouldn't get very far, but the urge to try was almost too strong to resist.
As if reading her mind, Maleficent gave her a smug smile. "This is the point when you usually lose your temper and try to attack me. I have to admire your self-control. Perhaps there is something to all this talk about balance after all."
"And what if I do agree to do what you want and by some miracle I am able to find the answers you're looking for? What then?"
Maleficent shrugged. "Then I'll show my gratitude by releasing your boys without harming them and taking myself off to some other reality to bother them instead of you."
"And what guarantee would I have that you wouldn't show up again once you've established your power base."
"None, of course," she responded with a laugh, nonchalantly taking the last sip of her wine and holding the empty glass out for her attendant to refill. "I didn't say I'd never come back, just that I'd leave for now. It's a deal you've made with others of my kind before -- so it's not such a stretch for you to agree to do it now. Besides, once I leave, you'll have control of the mirror here. You'll be able to destroy it if you choose so I can't ever use it to come back."
"That's very generous of you considering there must be others," Sam said bitterly. "We thought we'd taken care of the problem of interdimensional visitors when we destroyed the one at Area 51. If there's another one here, there must be others in this universe."
"Perhaps," Maleficent said, "but again that is a problem for another day. You really need to stay focused on the here and now. That's always been your problem, Samantha. You focus too much on 'ifs,' 'maybes' and possible consequences. You really need to live a little. And if you both get through this alive, you really should encourage Jack to show his gratitude to you for saving him from those days of torture with more than just a 'good job, Carter.'"
The woman's attitude grated on Sam and she almost blurted out, There's nothing between Jack and me. In fact, I have a boyfriend, but she remembered Daniel's admonition just in time. No, it wouldn't be prudent to give this creature any further information to use against them. Maleficent was right about one thing, she was seriously behind in understanding the dynamics of the interpersonal relationships of this SG-1 team and her overconfidence in that area could be used against her.
Carter remained quiet a few minutes longer, then finally said, "I want to see them before I agree to anything. If they've already been harmed, your word is worth nothing and there's no deal."
"Samantha, you don't trust me?" Maleficent said with a small pout, that turned into a mocking laugh at Sam's answering glare. "You are a smart one after all," she added with an amused smile, sliding silkily from the throne and gliding easily across the room as if walking in the four inch heels was of no consequence.
Flanked by armed guards, Sam followed, concentrating on memorizing their course through the maze of passages that made up the temple in case an opportunity to escape actually did present itself.
"Well isn't this peachy," O'Neill grumbled, pulling futilely at the length of chain that bound him securely to the wall opposite the door to the chamber. He looked around the room for what felt like the 100th time since they'd been brought there, noting again that it was rectangular, approximately 40 yards long but only 20 feet or so across. The three men were chained to the walls at one end, while the other end held the two heavily armed jaffa warriors guarding the door and a variety of torture devices hanging from the walls or sitting on a small table near a much larger, badly stained table with metal clamps near the top and bottom that were obviously meant to hold a human's hands and feet. O'Neill tried not to think about the most likely source of the stains.
"That is not the word I would use, O'Neill," Teal'c responded evenly, drawing O'Neill's attention back to their end of the room, where he watched the jaffa warrior give an assessing pull to the chains that held him to the wall to O'Neill's right.
"I'd say it pretty much sucks," Daniel said from his position sitting on the floor to O'Neill's left. The chains didn't have enough length for sitting to be comfortable since it forced him to hold his arms up at an unnatural angle, but Daniel was becoming concerned that the pain in his stomach where he'd been hit by the rifle earlier had subsided a little but had not gone away. He hadn't wanted to worry the others, so he'd decided to try taking some strain off his midsection by sitting for awhile. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be helping.
"I concur," Teal'c responded in that same calm, even tone.
"Of all the people in the universe that goa'uld could have taken, why did it have to be Janet?" Daniel asked suddenly, finally putting voice to the subject they had all avoided until now.
"I don't know which is worse," O'Neill said with disgust, "trying to accept that she's dead or the thought of her being one of those snakeheads."
"That creature is not our Dr. Fraiser, O'Neill," Teal'c said, the first hint of emotion tinging his voice. "You must not forget that. If we have the opportunity, we must kill it as I killed my alternate self the time we helped Dr. Carter and Major Kawalsky return to their reality."
"Yeah, I remember," O'Neill said, "the only reality that matters is our own. What I want to know is why does she sound like Fraiser? That's giving me the creeps. Why doesn't she have the usual goa'uld voice."
"We've seen other goa'ulds use their hosts' voices before to try to trick us," Daniel responded thoughtfully. "It's odd to see one use the host's voice all the time, but I'd say it's certainly having the desired effect of rattling us."
"Who said I was rattled?" O'Neill responded defensively. "I said it gives me the creeps, that's not the same thing."
Daniel rolled his eyes, "Thanks for clearing that up."
The sound of the heavy door to the chamber groaning as it was opened caught their attention, and three pairs of eyes moved anxiously to the door. Daniel struggled back to his feet, determined not to show their captor any sign of weakness.
Maleficent swirled in, a delighted smile on her face. "There they are. All safe and sound. Just as I promised."
Following her into the room, Carter put a tight rein on her emotions, prepared for the worst but willing that none of her reaction would show on her face. To her relief, the three men looked as well as could be expected. Their hands and feet were chained to the walls of the chamber, but there was enough play in the chains to give them some freedom of movement. She noted that Daniel looked a little pale and there was some strain showing around his eyes. Remembering the rifle butt he'd taken in the stomach earlier she forced herself not to think about the possibility of internal injuries.
"So, does this mean the girl talk is over now?" O'Neill asked pleasantly. "We were getting a little bored just hanging around here waiting."
"Our dear, sweet Jack. Always the joker," Maleficent said with a touch of fondness as she strolled casually over to him. "I hope this time things will be different and you can go on being the funny man," she cooed. "But that's totally up to Samantha."
O'Neill kept himself perfectly still as the woman with Janet Fraiser's face moved closer to him, then reached up to gently caress the side of his face. He didn't try to hide the look of disgust that crossed his face at her touch.
"What's going on Carter," he barked keeping his eye on the woman as she turned away from him with a tinkling laugh of amusement.
"She'll let you all go if I help her with a little problem," Carter reported briskly.
"What little problem?" Daniel asked, trying not to wince as the question brought Maleficent's attention, and her assessing smile, so much like that of a deadly snake preparing to strike, to him.
"Entropic cascade failure," Carter said in the same businesslike tone.
"Oh," Daniel said. "That little problem."
O'Neill looked between them in annoyance, and finally snapped "In English, Carter."
She looked at him uncomfortably. "The problem we had with Dr. Carter."
"Oh," O'Neill responded. "That little problem."
"I thought you were unable to overcome that problem," Teal'c said, "and that is why we had to send Dr. Carter back."
"That's right," Carter said evenly.
"So, I guess that means we're in pretty big trouble," Daniel said, unconsciously pulling again at the chains connecting his arms to the wall.
"Not necessarily," Carter responded carefully. "Evidently Maleficent visited some other realities before she came here and got a little help with the problem. There are some promising theories among them."
"Help from who?" O'Neill asked his sharp gaze boring into Carter.
"Whether she's Major Carter, Captain Carter or Dr. Carter, our Samantha is quite a bright girl in all realities," Maleficent broke into the conversation, stalking over to plant herself between O'Neill and Carter.
"You helped her?" O'Neill directed to Carter, ignoring the woman standing between them.
"Not me personally," Carter said defensively. "Other versions of me in other realities."
"Never mind," O'Neill said, starting to rub a hand across his forehead until the chain at his wrist halted the movement. "This is one of those things that's just going to give me a headache if we keep talking about it, isn't it."
"Yes, sir."
"Fine. Then let's keep this simple. I'm ordering you not to help her with her 'little problem' under any circumstances. Is that clear, Carter?"
"Yes, sir," Carter responded miserably.
"Jack, Jack, Jack," Maleficent murmured with amusement. "Such a tough guy. He's definitely got that John Wayne thing going, doesn't he, Samantha. It's easy to see why you're so attracted to him."
Carter kept her expression impassive and O'Neill only raised an eyebrow at the remark.
"Well," Maleficent said as she pulled a tiny device from a small pocket in her form-fitting skirt, "if you're going to mindlessly follow orders, Samantha, and what he said is going to be your final answer as well, then I guess I don't have to wait for my entertainment after all."
Pivoting into a half turn that allowed her a quick look at each man, the woman nimbly tossed the device at Teal'c. He attempted to dodge, but the chains didn't allow enough leeway and the object caught him just below the left shoulder, making a sizzling sound as it hit his bare skin. A look of shocked surprise crossed Teal'c's face and he made an inadvertent groaning sound before recovering his composure, but his normally placid features were clearly strained and a sheen of sweat stood out on his forehead.
Carter struggled with her warring emotions, knowing she could not disobey O'Neill's direct order, but wanting desperately to buy some time and prevent some of the suffering that she knew was ahead.
"I realize that wasn't a very impressive display," Maleficent said carelessly, "but that one was on the lowest setting. A tiny little demonstration. There are nine more settings, each exponentially stronger than the last. Should we try them all?" she asked, pulling another of the devices from her pocket and carelessly tossing it at Daniel.
Daniel couldn't restrain the yelp of pain as the device hit his lower arm, sending bolts of pain scissoring up and down the entire limb. His body tensed, trying to absorb and deflect the pain, but instead sent fresh waves of pain through his abdominal area. He slumped back against the wall trying to steady his breathing and regain control.
"Level three," Maleficent said calmly, pulling another device from her pocket and hurling it at O'Neill. It hit his undershirt on the right side of his chest, but the thin material offered no protection. The charge went through him like a bolt of lightning, sending waves of pain shooting through his chest and out to his extremities. O'Neill's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed against the wall, panting as he tried to regain the ability to breath normally.
"Stop it!" Carter cried out frantically.
"You know my terms for stopping, Samantha," Maleficent said, staring her straight in the eye, the empty coldness of those eyes chilling Carter to the bone. "And you know they require you to disobey a direct order that was just given to you by your superior officer.
"It's quite a quandary, isn't it Samantha?" she added, starting to pace in a restless circle between the three men. "As usual, you know a lot more than he does and, given what you know that he doesn't, his order makes no sense, but he still gets to give the order and you're still expected to follow it. Is that really fair? My Samantha didn't think so -- and she complained about it to me quite often."
The three men had pulled themselves together and were attempting to put on a brave front, but Carter knew them all well enough to see the small signs of pain they were trying to hide from her.
"I gave you an order, Carter," O'Neill said between clenched teeth, "and I expect you to obey it."
Ignoring O'Neill's statement, Carter responded tightly, "Life isn't fair or we wouldn't be here right now."
Maleficent laughed one of Janet Fraiser's bright and cheerful laughs, sending another flicker of pain through Carter's heart. "So true. So true. But the clock continues to tick and we need to move things along, don't we."
As Maleficent did one last circuit between the three men, taking a long moment to study each of them, Carter saw her reach out and pluck the small devices off them and return them to her pocket. Was it an indication that the devices were reusable, she wondered, or was the woman simply being cautious about allowing them access to anything that could be turned into a tool or weapon.
"Who should be first?" Maleficent said thoughtfully. "You never did choose, Samantha, so I guess I'll have to do it for you." She stared coldly at each of the men in turn and was pleased to see cold defiance in each of their eyes despite their obvious pain. "Oh, this is going to be fun," the woman said with a wicked smile, moving quickly to one of her guards and pulling a torture stick from his belt.
"Restrain her," she said over her shoulder to the guards as she moved toward Teal'c and activated the weapon.
Sam's arms were grabbed from each side by a guard and she struggled to break free as she heard Teal'c's strangled cry of pain when the weapon was discharged, sending a bolt of light searing through his body.
Sam wasn't sure how long the first round of torture lasted -- it felt like it had been hours but the logical part of her mind told her none of them could have lasted that long. But their screams were still reverberating through her brain as if they hadn't stopped. She forced herself to look at the results. Teal'c was slumped against the wall, still conscious but in obvious agony; Daniel was collapsed with his face toward the wall, so she couldn't tell if he was conscious or not; and Jack O'Neill, who had taken the brunt of Maleficent's anger, was on the ground, at least as much as the chains would allow, clearly unconscious.
"Well," Maleficent said to her, with obvious satisfaction at her handiwork. "that wasn't very pleasant for you, now was it? Are you really going to make me do it again?"
Sam remained silent, forcing her face into an impassive mask.
"Um, I see the wheels turning. Let's see if I can help a little," Maleficent said with an amused smile, as she paced easily back and forth directly in Carter's line of vision, the 4 inch heels bringing her almost to Carter's height so the Colonel was unable to ignore her by staring over her head.
"It looks like Jack's unconscious," Maleficent said conspiratorially. "You can go over and poke him if you like, but I take great pride in my work and I'm convinced he's unconscious. That changes the game a bit doesn't it. If Jack's unconscious, he can't assess any situations or give any orders. And so, if I remember my Air Force manual correctly, that means you're now the ranking military officer and you're in charge of strategy and giving orders. Isn't that delightful!
"So tell me, Samantha. What are you going to do? Are you going to continue following his very stupid order or are you going to use that fabulous brain of yours to figure a way out of this impossible situation. I'll even give you a little time to think about it. It wouldn't do me much good to try and torture them any more right now anyway. After all, we don't want them to start dying quite yet, do we?"
Maleficent gave Carter Janet Fraiser's brightest smile before turning and sashaying toward the door. When she reached it, she turned again, her cold, direct gaze falling on Carter, "I'll be back in an hour, Samantha. Think carefully about the ramifications of this decision. And know that I haven't started to really hurt them yet." She disappeared through the door trailed by several guards.
Sam's view of the entourage was cut off by the solid thud of the door being closed by one of the two remaining guards. She braced her hand against the nearest wall, not sure her badly shaking legs could hold her up any longer. She took a deep steadying breath trying to calm her galloping heart and steeled herself to go over and assess the damage her team had taken.
Tanin paced back and forth across the dais in agitation, no longer sure who or what to believe. The story the strangers had told was compelling and had struck a chord deep inside him. He didn't know why he instinctively believed them, but he did. And now they were prisoners of the goddess, the goddess he had dedicated his life to serve. How could he break that vow? But if he didn't, it would mean standing by while the goddess tortured and possibly killed O'Neill and the others. Neither choice was appealing and Tanin rubbed his hands over his face trying to force another option from his overtaxed brain.
"What's wrong, Tanin?" came a timid voice.
Tanin whirled guiltily toward the voice and relaxed slightly when he realized it was only Badrin. "Something the strangers told me is weighing heavily on my mind."
Badrin looked around quickly as if fearing being overheard. "I spent much time with them before your arrival and they seemed genuinely friendly, especially the one called Daniel. He listened to my prattling about the monuments with great patience, even though it was obvious they all realized I was stalling them."
Badrin stopped and looked guiltily around again. "Perhaps it is not my place to say this to you since you are the high priest, Tanin, but I do not believe it is right -- what the goddess is doing to them. I know she is a goddess," he continued hurriedly, "and we have no right to question her, but this seems wrong. They have not harmed us or shown any intention of harming us."
Tanin stood for a few minutes, relieved at not being the only one with doubts, but struggling with his duty as high priest to condemn Badrin for the words he had just spoken. Finally, he forced out, "The strangers told me the goddess is false. That she is not what she appears to be. They say she is simply another human being under the control of an alien entity that has invaded her body."
"It is blasphemy," Badrin said, the color draining from his face as he sank to his knees. "It cannot be true."
"What if it is true, Badrin? What if it is true and we allow her to torture and kill them and do nothing to stop it? Could you live with yourself if that were the case? I do not know if I can."
"And what if it is a lie?" Badrin squeaked. "What if they're just trying to get you to violate your oath as a priest and betray the goddess?"
"I do not believe that is what's happening. I cannot explain to you why I believe that; it is something I just know deep inside me."
"What are you going to do?" Badrin asked, his face so pale it was almost white in the semi-darkness of the chamber.
"I don't yet know," Tanin said sadly, "but I must do something."
Sam steeled herself and went over to Teal'c first. "Teal'c. Teal'c. Can you hear me?" she asked gently, holding his head in her hands to steady it and help focus his attention on her face.
"Yes, Colonel Carter," he said weakly. "I will be fine, do not concern yourself."
She almost laughed at the absurdity of the remark but tears were waiting dangerously on the heels of that laugh, so she held it in, giving him a tenuous smile instead. "Tough guy," she muttered fondly and felt some small relief at his answering attempt at a smile.
"O'Neill and Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c forced out.
Carter's smile faltered, "They're alive. She made sure of that much. I need to go check on them. Will you be okay?"
"Indeed," Teal'c responded weakly.
Sam squeezed his hand reassuringly and moved on to O'Neill. As she reached him, she was startled by the sound of someone knocking on the door. Her heart began racing with the fear that Maleficent had lied and was already returning to continue her 'entertainment', but when the guard opened the door, it was Maleficent's attendant, carrying a large tray with a pitcher, a bowl of fruit, and another bowl with several cloths beside it. The woman placed the tray on the large torture table and quickly brought the bowl with the cloths to Carter.
"My mistress told me to bring you food and drink and to help tend the injuries of your men."
"Thank you," Carter said coldly as she took the bowl of what appeared to be water and the cloths from the girl, "but I can take care of them myself."
The woman looked at her beseechingly, "My mistress will punish me if I return without doing as she commanded."
Sam glared at the girl a moment, then finally asked suspiciously, "What's in the pitcher?"
"It is only water," the girl said meekly.
"Bring it here first for me to see. If I think it looks okay, I want you to give some to the man over there," she said, pointing to Teal'c.
The girl nodded and returned to the table to pour some liquid into a small wooden cup Carter hadn't noticed the first time she'd looked at the tray. The girl brought it to her and Carter carefully dipped her finger into the liquid and put it to her own lips. It tasted like water. With relief, she nodded to the girl. "Teal'c, this girl is going to give you some water. I've tested it and it's okay to take it from her."
"Very well," Teal'c said weakly, keeping his eyes on the girl as she crossed to him to ensure she did nothing to the cup between the time it left Carter's hands and the time it reached his lips.
Sam checked O'Neill and found he was deeply unconscious, although breathing regularly. The side of his face was covered with dark, angry bruises that were sure to go through the entire spectrum of the rainbow as they healed - if they got the chance to heal. Forcing such negative thoughts from her mind, Sam checked the liquid in the bowl to make sure it too was water, then carefully dipped a cloth into it and laid the damp cloth across Jack's forehead. He reacted slightly when the cool fabric touched his skin, but his eyes didn't open.
Reluctantly, Sam left his side and took the bowl of water and cloths over to Daniel, who was still slumped on the ground with his face toward the wall. Her heart was hammering as she leaned over her friend and gently turned his face toward her. His eyes were closed and there was a small trickle of blood running down the side of his mouth. She wet another cloth and carefully wiped his face with it. Daniel stirred and moaned softly as his eyes fluttered open. There was a moment of confusion, then a flash of fear as he remembered what had happened, then recognition as he realized it was Sam's face leaning over him.
"Daniel, are you okay?" Sam asked, realizing as the words came out of her mouth how ridiculous they were.
"Oh, I've had better days," he croaked weakly.
Sam turned to see what the girl was doing and saw that she was standing nervously by Teal'c, obviously unsure of what she was supposed to do next.
"You, what's your name?"
"Melina," the girl responded, dropping her head fearfully at the sharp tone of Sam's voice and focusing her eyes on the ground.
"Bring some more of that water over here, Melina," Sam commanded absently, returning her concentration to Daniel.
"Yes, mistress," the girl replied, obediently heading for the pitcher.
When the girl brought the cup of water, Sam held it as Daniel took a small sip. He winced as the water made its way to his still aching stomach, causing it to spasm sharply.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Sam asked with concern.
"Just a little pain in the stomach," he responded, trying to paste a smile over the wince, but only turning it into a grimace instead.
"How bad is it?"
"Let's just say the way things are going I don't think it's going to have a chance to kill me."
"That's not funny, Daniel," Sam snapped.
"Sorry," he said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. "I guess my sense of humor got scrambled along with the rest of me that last time."
Sam fought back the panic that was beginning to nip viciously at her, causing her own stomach to clench and a tremor to move outward through her body. She gripped the bowl she was holding tightly, concentrating on stilling the trembling that had reached her hands.
"Colonel Carter," Teal'c said, some of the strength returned to his voice.
"What is it Teal'c?" she responded absently, feeling the full weight of her position as commander of SG-1 as she remained stooped in front of Daniel, trying not to give in to the feeling of helplessness that wanted to drown her as she looked at his closed eyes and waited for his next labored breath.
"You must not give in to that creature."
"If I don't, all of you are going to die," Sam responded numbly.
"She will kill us eventually anyway. You know that."
Reluctantly tearing her gaze from Daniel, Sam focused her attention on Teal'c. "I can buy us some time, Teal'c. Time to come up with a plan, a way to escape."
"Time like this?" Teal'c asked.
"I don't understand. What do you mean?" Sam asked wearily, rubbing the heel of her hand across her now aching forehead.
"Do you really believe that creature gave you this time out of kindness or mercy or even as time for you to think about this situation, Colonel Carter? She wants you to do exactly what you are doing. She wants you to tend our injuries and see our pain. That is the greatest weapon she has against you. O'Neill was correct. You cannot help her. No matter what the cost to any of us."
"We have to do something more than just dying, Teal'c. There's more than one way for her to win in this situation. If she kills us here, she'll just move on to the next reality and do all this again to our counterparts in that one. And maybe the next Samantha Carter will break and give her what she wants. That will leave those we leave behind here in an even worse position down the road, because we won't be here to help them."
Teal'c was silent a moment, pondering her words, before finally responding, "You are correct."
"Yeah," Sam said, "I know I am. But I don't see a way out this time. There's no way to get the three of you out of those chains and, even if there was, Daniel and the General are in no condition to make a run for it."
"Then, regardless of what happens to the three of us," Teal'c said calmly, "you must find a way to get to the mirror and break it to prevent that creature from escaping this reality. Once we are overdue, General Hammond will send another team to investigate. She does not appear to have enough resources here to withstand a sustained attack from our forces once they discover what has occurred."
"And once the mirror is gone," Carter added thoughtfully, "even if she does manage to somehow escape this planet, it's only a matter of time before the effects of entropic cascade failure catch up with her. She has more time because our Janet is dead, but eventually it will kill her."
"You must prepare yourself to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself."
"If one's coming, it better be soon," Carter responded wearily. "We're running out of time."
The guards on the other side of the room were positioned too far away to have been able to hear the exchange between the prisoners, but the young woman who had been quietly following Carter's orders and assisting in attending to the injured men had absorbed every word. As soon as she could, she gathered up the empty pitcher and bowls and the used cloths, stacked them onto the tray and hurried out of the room to make her report.
It was more than twenty minutes after Maleficent's hour grace period had expired when there was a knock on the door, and it swung wide to reveal two guards who had come to escort Sam back to the throne room. Sam was curious as to why the woman hadn't returned, but wavered between refusing to leave the rest of her team, which she realized would only bring Maleficent back to punish them sooner, and going with the guards, which would leave the men alone to possibly be tortured by the other guards. Realizing that she could do nothing to prevent either outcome and that returning to the throne room would give her a shot at destroying the mirror, she grudgingly fell into step between the two guards.
Sam had thought that nothing more about this bizarre situation could surprise her, but she realized she was wrong when the guards led her into the throne room. Up on the dais, Tanin and Badrin were kneeling, their hands braced on the floor in front of them, while Maleficent stalked back and forth angrily in front of them. The cabinet holding the mirror was open and a large hammer lay on the floor several feet from it. Four guards were covering the room with their staff weapons fully activated and prepared to fire.
Maleficent stopped her stalking when she saw Carter, her glare as cold as ice and her eyes flashing brightly. The angry voice that spilled out of the woman was no longer Janet Fraiser's but that of the goa'uld. "So, you have managed to turn my priests against me, have you, Samantha? Well, you and your men shall pay as dearly for that betrayal as these two will!"
In one quick motion, the woman pulled one of the small zapper devices out of her pocket, tapped the edge and tossed it at Badrin, who began screaming as soon as it touched him. The place where it had landed began to smolder and his body started seizing from the power of the electrical jolt that coursed through him.
Maleficent watched dispassionately as his body twitched and fell. "That was level seven, Samantha. I think we shall save levels eight, nine and ten for Teal'c, Daniel and Jack."
"Why?" Sam asked angrily, trying to buy some time while also figuring out what had happened to alter the situation so drastically. "I don't know what happened here, but we had nothing to do with it. I came to tell you I'm willing to help you, if you'll do as you promised and leave us alone after I give you the information. I'm going to give you what you want. Why are you so willing to throw that away now?"
"Do you really think I'm that stupid, Samantha? You told them about the mirror and they tried to destroy it. Do you really think I'm going to give you another chance to betray me now that your little plan has failed?"
"Think about this, Maleficent. How could any of us have told them about the mirror? We didn't even know you had a quantum mirror until you appeared to us. Tanin was there when that happened, but I haven't spoken to him or seen any of the other priests since then. The others have been locked away. How could any of us have told them?"
The woman seemed to waver at that. "Then how did they know?" she asked petulantly.
"They've seen you come out of it before, haven't they?" Sam asked. "Maybe they just figured it out on their own."
"Why!!" the woman wailed, turning furiously to grab Tanin by the throat and shake him like a rag doll. "Why did you betray me!!"
Sam had been carefully shifting her position as the dramatic scene unfolded before her. All of the guards seemed mesmerized by their goddess' fury and Sam used their distraction to her advantage, quickly closing the distance between herself and the nearest guard. She threw her entire weight into him from the side while grabbing at his staff weapon. He tried to discharge it at her, but she turned it just in time to direct its pulse at one of the other guards who, realizing what had happened, had begun to charge toward them. He took the blast full in the chest and fell twitching to the ground before going still.
Meanwhile, Sam drove her elbow as hard as she could into the face of the man she was struggling with. As he started to fall, she reached down and pulled the zat out of his belt, then pivoted backward to drive the shaft of the staff weapon into his stomach as she activated the zat. She dove for cover at the edge of the dais as she sent a volley of zat blasts across the room in the direction of the remaining guards. She heard Maleficent shriek as one of the blasts hit her.
Ignoring the woman's scream, Sam popped up from her minimal cover to aim a zat blast directly at the mirror. To her surprise, Melina was already there struggling with the heavy hammer. As she watched, Tanin, who had fallen from the goddess' iron grip when she was hit by the zat blast, pulled himself to his feet, went behind the girl, put his own hands over hers on the hammer and used his greater weight to help them propel the hammer into the mirror. Sam heard the satisfying sound of it smashing as she took aim and fired at a guard who was sighting his weapon to stop them. It took only seconds to take out the remaining guards.
Bodies of the dead and dying lay strewn across the room, but Sam only cared about one of them. She stood over Maleficent and aimed the zat directly in the woman's face. Janet Fraiser's serene smile met her gaze and she felt her resolve falter. In that second, Maleficent's uninjured hand lashed out and slapped one of the tiny zapper devices onto her leg. She fired the zat just as the jolt from the small device thundered its way through her body.
Sam drifted back to consciousness slowly, pulled first by the soft murmur of voices nearby, then by the familiar bleeps and blips of monitoring equipment. Her eyes fluttered open and she was vaguely surprised to find herself in the Cheyenne Mountain infirmary.
"She's waking up. Contact the General," came a soft female voice from the side of the bed.
The nurse looked familiar, but Sam couldn't place her. For a moment her mind struggled foggily trying to identify the woman and wondering why Janet wasn't there instead. The memories returned in waves like a high tide crashing in against the shore of her mind. It hurt to even breath, but finally she forced out, "General O'Neill, Daniel, Teal'c?"
"They're going to be fine, Colonel. Just rest now."
Sam nodded and closed her eyes again, relief at knowing the others were safe flooding her as she retreated into the healing comfort of sleep.
General George Hammond looked around the conference table with concern. The SGC's new commander and his first team, the best and brightest the SGC had to offer, all looked as if they had just come back from a long stint at the front lines. Brig. General Jack O'Neill sat fully upright in his chair as if trying to compensate for the ugly mass of bruises mottling the left side of his face. Hammond knew there were more of the unsightly discolorations, as well as several painful burns, covering a large portion of the man's body under his fatigues, but he also knew that now that O'Neill had been cleared for duty, he would never give any indication if any of the injuries were causing him pain.
Hammond's gaze turned to Daniel Jackson, who was not as visibly bruised as O'Neill, but was slumped back in his chair with his hand unconsciously resting on his stomach in deference to the mild ache still haunting that region. Jackson had come dangerously close to peritonitis from the stomach injury, and Hammond couldn't help marvelling again at the young man's resilience in bouncing back from this latest injury, which had been complicated by burns and bruises similar to O'Neill's.
The General's eyes turned to Teal'c, who was wearing his normal placid expression like a mask. Again, the few visible bruises and burns were greatly outnumbered by those hidden under the black short sleeved t-shirt and fatigues. If any of the injuries were bothering the jaffa warrior, there was no evidence of it in that imperturbable expression. Now that he no longer carried the symbiote that had in the past healed any injuries very quickly, Teal'c would have to endure the same recovery period as the rest of the team, but there was nothing in the man's expression to indicate that his injuries were anything more than a mild inconvenience.
Finally, Hammond's eyes moved to Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, whose pale face and still slightly shell-shocked eyes were the only indications that she had almost been electrocuted less than a week before. Had it not been for the fact that the device the goa'uld had slapped onto her leg, which had been on its highest setting, had not connected with her skin because of the heavy material of her fatigues, Carter would most certainly be dead now. As it was, enough of the charge had gone through her to keep her unconscious for three days and recovering in the infirmary for several more after that.
Hammond was extremely grateful that SG-1's luck had held one more time, and that the entire team was in good enough condition to be sitting around the table for the very difficult discussion that was to follow. "I've read your reports and I want to commend all of you for a job well done under the most difficult and trying of circumstances."
"It was mostly Carter's doing, sir," O'Neill said briskly. "She used exceptional judgment in a very tense and emotional situation."
"Thank you, sir," Carter said, surprised by the compliment considering how close she felt she had come to insubordination in 'modifying' O'Neill's direct order. "But none of us would have made it without the help we received from the locals - the priests Tanin and Badrin and Maleficent's servant, Melina."
"Understood," the General responded. "And their assistance will be considered in deciding how we're going to deal with the inhabitants of the planet, especially since the one priest gave his life trying to destroy the mirror. But right now we have a much more difficult problem to deal with.
"Even though this situation has been classified as a Homeworld Security matter and would, therefore, fall under my jurisdiction and not General O'Neill's as head of the SGC, I thought it only fair that the four of you have input into this decision since you were the ones most directly affected by the actions of this individual."
Carter looked around the table, confused, and realized everyone but General Hammond was deliberately staring anywhere but at her. "What's going on?" she asked. "What did I miss while I was unconscious?"
"Maleficent isn't dead," Daniel said quietly, not meeting her eyes.
"What do you mean, she's not dead? Where is she?" Carter asked, feeling the panic rising in her chest. "She couldn't have made it through the mirror. I heard it smash before she hit me with the zapper."
"Oh, we have her," O'Neill said coldly, scribbling absently on the pad in front of him.
"She was captured by the team that went in after you when you didn't report in as scheduled," Hammond said briskly. "I have to tell you they were pretty shaken when they saw her. By that time, Teal'c had been freed by the locals and when he explained the situation and exactly who and what she was, she was brought back here and we contacted the Tok'ra.
"They were able to remove the symbiote," Teal'c added evenly.
Sam felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach and her face went even paler than it had been before. "Where is she?" she asked numbly.
"She's being kept in isolation for the time being -- until we can figure out what to do with her," O'Neill said.
"We no longer have a mirror to send her back to her own reality," Teal'c said.
"And even if we did, that wouldn't be much of an answer considering what she told us about her reality, because she'd probably just end up being taken as a host again or killed," Daniel added.
"Why should that matter to us after what she did?" Sam responded coldly.
"Dammit, Sam," Daniel snapped, "You, better than anyone, should know that the host is not responsible for the actions of the symbiote. And even if she is from another dimension, this is still Janet we're talking about, not some stranger."
"Don't you even start that, Daniel," Sam snapped back at him. "That is not our Janet Fraiser. It is a stranger. Our Janet is dead! And none of you better be giving even the slightest thought to allowing that . . . person to stay here on this base."
"Calm down, Carter," O'Neill said forcefully.
"No, sir. I will not calm down. I can't believe any of you would even consider keeping her here. Even taking into consideration that she was under the influence of a goa'uld when she did all the terrible things she did, how can you bear the thought of having her here? Our Janet is dead and no one can ever replace her. No one can even come close. How do you think the medical staff and the other SG teams would react to her sudden resurrection? And how would you ever explain it to Cassie? She's barely gotten over the grief of losing a mother for the second time. How do you think she's going to react to getting a 'replacement' from another dimension."
"Colonel Carter," Hammond said sternly. "I understand how difficult this is for you, but we need to find some sort of resolution to this problem. The mirror is gone, so this woman, whoever she is and however you want to refer to her, cannot be returned to her own reality or be sent to any other. She's stuck here. And if I understand all of your reports correctly, we are eventually going to have to deal with the issue of entropic cascade failure, which will most likely lead to an extremely difficult and painful death for her. She's going to have to be kept in a location where her condition can be monitored, but where civilians and those without the proper security clearance do not inadvertently become aware of her condition. And if we decide to conduct further research into a possible cure for that condition, she will need to be close to the testing facility."
"So send her to Area 51, or, better yet, offworld to the Tok'ra or the Asgard," Carter responded, trying to keep her voice level and unemotional. "They're both supposed to be so advanced, I'm sure either one of them could find a solution before we can."
"There is also the issue of her superior medical skills and her knowledge of some of the alien races we've encountered. You may recall that the loss of such a valuable and skilled member of our team was one of the excuses Senator Kinsey used to try and wrest control of this program from the military," Hammond added.
"Her knowledge and skills come from a parallel dimension," Carter responded stubbornly. "We have no idea how closely that dimension mirrors our own or how many of our missions were duplicated there. And according to her own story, that knowledge is at least four years out of date, maybe more."
"Colonel," Hammond chided sternly.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you said you wanted our input and opinions and I've given you mine. Obviously, the final decision is yours." She stood up and quickly gathered up her notebook and mission reports. "Request permission to be excused, sir. I'm feeling a little sick to my stomach."
Hammond stared at her for a moment, clearly unhappy with the course the discussion had taken. "Very well, Colonel. But if you're not feeling better in a few hours, I want you back in the infirmary for further follow-up."
"Yes, sir," Carter replied coldly as she headed down the stairs to the gate level, shouldered her way through the door and headed toward the elevator to her office.
"Well that went about as well as could be expected," O'Neill said with a touch of sarcasm, running a hand restlessly through his short crop of hair.
"Really?" Hammond snapped irritably. "I'd expected much better from this particular group of people."
"General . . . ," O'Neill began.
"Not now, Jack. We'll reconvene at 1600 to give Colonel Carter some time to absorb this new information." Gathering his own papers and reports, Hammond stood abruptly and barked, "Dismissed," before stalking out of the room.
O'Neill raised his eyebrow but said nothing as the General stormed out of the room, realizing that his usually unflappable superior officer was as unnerved by this latest turn of events as the rest of them.
"I'll go talk to her," Daniel said unhappily.
"No," O'Neill said resignedly, "I'll do it."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Daniel asked warily. "You know you can't just give her orders on this one, Jack."
"I am occasionally capable of some tact and sensitivity, Daniel," O'Neill replied irritably.
"I do not recall ever seeing you display such attributes, O'Neill," Teal'c said with all seriousness.
O'Neill narrowed his eyes and glared at both of them. "I said I'll handle it."
Samantha Carter sat at the desk in her office, trying to concentrate on the preliminary reports and schematics for the zapper device that were the end result of the technical department's examination of the alien devices confiscated from Maleficent. But every time she thought about the devices, she was reminded of how much pleasure their owner had derived in using them to hurt the people she cared about the most. Trying to relate that person in any way to the Janet Fraiser she had known was impossible.
Giving up on the report, she opened her desk drawer and took out a framed photograph. It was from Cassandra's 11th birthday party. The theme had been Disney's princesses and Cassandra had insisted that all the girls, including Janet and Sam, wear the plastic tiaras Janet had bought at the party store. Sam smiled fondly at the memory, remembering how much ribbing she'd taken from the guys afterwards. But it had been worth it, she thought, rubbing her finger lightly over the picture of her, Janet and Cassie in their tiaras. Janet was hugging her daughter close and they both had contented, happy smiles while Sam sat beside them laughing at something that was happening behind the camera.
Sam was lost so deep in her memories, she didn't even hear the quick knock at her open door or notice anyone entering the room.
O'Neill realized she hadn't heard him enter and started to say something to alert her to his presence, but closed his mouth when he saw the lone tear slide down her face. He angled himself to see what she was looking at and caught his breath when he saw the picture. He felt a tug at his own heart as he remembered that day. He waited a few moments for his own emotions to settle then finally cleared his throat.
Carter jumped in her seat and turned away from him for a moment, swiping the back of a hand guiltily across her face to brush away any residual signs of her grief. She quickly stuffed the picture back into the drawer and slammed it shut. "What can I do for you, sir?" she asked stiffly.
"I just came to tell you that General Hammond wants to reconvene at 1600 hours to finish the discussion and he wants everyone there."
Carter's mouth tightened, but she responded, "Yes, sir."
"Look, Carter. I know this is a rough one. It's rough for all of us. Janet Fraiser was a very special person. She was an exceptional doctor, a fine officer, a wonderful mother and a very good friend to all of us. Seeing her on the planet like that, as a goa'uld, it was just wrong on so many levels."
Carter remained silent, staring unyieldingly at him as the silence grew longer.
"Anyway," he fumbled uncomfortably, "You went through all that stuff with Jolinar, so you know what it feels like to have one of those things inside you. Just like I know how it feels. You know how frustrating and . . . scary it is to have something else sharing your mind and controlling your body. And you know what it feels like when suddenly that other entity is gone and you're stuck having to remember and live with the things it made your body do while it had control."
She remained silent, but he was encouraged by her reluctant nod.
"Unless it was just an act for Daniel's sake, you always seemed to agree that Sha're and Sarah weren't responsible for what Amonette and Osiris did. And even though you were uncomfortable about it, you were ready to accept Dr. Carter and Kawalsky staying here until we figured out they couldn't because of that cascade thing."
"Is there a point to all of this, sir," Carter asked wearily.
"There's a life at stake here, Carter. Maybe you should find out more about who that person really is before you offer any more opinions about her right to that life."
"Yes, sir," she said flatly, not meeting his eyes.
"Briefing's at 1600 hours. Be there."
"Yes, sir."
O'Neill started to go, then turned back. "Can you believe Daniel and Teal'c thought I couldn't handle this with tact and sensitivity?" he asked, trying to coax a smile from her.
She only glanced at him and said firmly, "Yes, sir," before turning back to her desk.
When he had gone, she put her head down on the desk, trying to get her errant emotions under control. She closed her eyes, wishing her father was there to talk to. Then it occurred to her who she really needed. Pulling out her cellphone, she punched in a speed dial number.
The heavy burden of pain and grief seemed to lighten when the bright, cheerful voice at the other end of the line answered. "Hey, Sam. This is a nice surprise. I thought you were off exploring another galaxy the rest of the week."
"Pete," she said, another tear sliding unbidden down her cheek. "Do you have a few minutes? I really need to talk to you about something."
"What is it, Sam? You sound terrible. What's happened?"
Sam finally put the phone down almost an hour later, feeling better than she had since all of this had started. Pete Shanahan always had that effect on her, she thought, the first genuine smile in days lighting up her face.
She glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost 1400 hours. Only two hours left until the briefing. It was time to face down one of her demons.
Sam started to leave her office, then turned back to her desk, pulled open the drawer, picked up the framed photograph and slid it into a pocket of her khakis as a good luck charm.
The isolation area was unusually quiet, the few staff on duty speaking in hushed, nervous voices to each other as if afraid of disturbing some slumbering giant. Sam had passed two armed guards at the main door leading into the section, but was relieved to see none inside the section itself. The mood was already so somber, she couldn't help thinking that additional guards would only make it feel more like a prison than a place of healing.
As she walked up to the nurses station, Sam found herself at a loss as to what to say when she got there.
"Good afternoon, Colonel Carter," the nurse at the desk said with forced cheerfulness. "Are you here to see the patient."
"Yes," Carter said, relieved at not having to figure out exactly who it was she should be asking for.
"She's in isolation room 1, right over there," the woman said softly, gesturing nervously toward a door across from the desk, to the left of where Sam was standing. "Do you need me to come in with you?" the nurse asked in her falsely chipper voice while her eyes held an anxiety that clearly indicated what she hoped the answer would be.
"No, thanks," Sam responded. "I think I'll be okay by myself."
"Okay," the woman said, the relief plain on her face. "Just call or ring if you need anything. Someone will come right away."
Sam started to turn to the door, but stopped suddenly and turned back toward the desk. "By the way, is anyone else with her now?"
"No," the nurse responded. "Dr. Jackson was here earlier, but he left about half an hour ago."
"Okay, good," Sam responded with relief, pulling in a deep breath and bracing herself before moving to the door and opening it.
Sam wasn't sure what she'd expected to see when she entered the room, but her first impression was of a blob of reddish blond hair surrounded by a sea of white. The blob moved and a face turned toward her. The eyes were dark and sunken from crying, alternating grief and anguish with every movement of the head. The eyes widened when the woman realized who her visitor was.
"Sam? Is it really you? I thought I'd killed you too, like all the others." The woman began to cry, soft, broken sobs, full of grief and pain.
"It's okay. I'm fine," Sam said nervously, uncomfortable with the woman's obvious misery. Facing Maleficent was so much easier than this, she thought to herself. "How are you?" Sam wanted to kick herself as soon as the words left her mouth. "Sorry, obviously that was a really stupid question. I'm just not sure what to say."
The woman took some tissues from a box beside the bed and wiped her streaming eyes and nose. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess. There are so many memories jumbled around in my mind. So many things that creature did while it was inside me. It makes me sick to think about it. I'm a doctor. I'm supposed to help people. It tears me apart to know that it used my knowledge of medicine to hurt people . . . especially the people I loved the most."
Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, but she wiped them away defiantly. "Daniel was here earlier. He explained to me what's going on. The decision all of you are trying to make about what to do with me. I want you to know that I understand if you aren't able to accept what happened to me or to ever forgive me for what I did to you and the others."
"I'm not going to lie to you or sugar-coat this," Sam said uncomfortably. "I'm having a really hard time with all of this. The Janet Fraiser of this reality was my best friend. She was the kindest, most dedicated and most caring person I've ever met. I don't know how much Daniel told you, but she died on a battlefield last year, trying to save the life of a young airman who'd been shot with a staff weapon.
"Having you come through the mirror the way you did, and hurt people I care about, it was like a slap in the face to all that she was, all that she dedicated her life to."
"I'm not the person who was your best friend," the woman with Janet Fraiser's face said sadly, "just as you're not the Samantha Carter who was my best friend. She's dead too. And I have to live with the knowledge that it was my hands that killed her, even if my mind didn't want to do it.
"The things that I've done the last five years, the atrocities I've committed, I can't take any of them back, as much as I wish I could. And there is no way I can make you understand what it was like to feel so powerless, to be unable to do anything to stop what that creature was doing."
"I probably understand more than you think," Sam said uncomfortably. At the woman's puzzled look, she added, "Because of Jolinar."
"Jolinar? What is Jolinar?"
"So your Carter was never taken as a host by a To'kra."
"To'kra? What is that? I've never heard that word before."
"It seems our realities are a lot different than we first suspected. In our reality there's a splinter group of the goa'uld called the To'kra that don't believe in taking hosts by force. They believe the goa'uld/host relationship should be truly symbioitic instead of parasitic. I was accidentally taken as a host by one of them. It was a terrifying experience for me, to lose control of my body that way, but in the end Jolinar gave up her life to save mine. So I understand a little what it must have been like for you, but not totally."
"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that."
"It was an experience that changed me and the way I see things in a good way, so I can't say I totally regret it."
"Perhaps it's also one of the reasons your reality has been spared from goa'uld domination."
"Perhaps," Sam replied. "The To'kra have been important allies and we've learned a great deal from them about the goa'uld. If your people never met them, it would have had a major effect on your ability to fight the goa'uld."
"Are they the ones who taught you how to remove a symbiote? That's something we weren't ever able to do."
"Yes."
"It's amazing how small differences can lead to such major changes in our destinies," the woman said wistfully. She frowned slightly, as if trying to decide whether or not to say something. Finally, she said softly "Will you answer a question for me, Major Carter?"
"Actually, it's Lt. Colonel. And I'll be happy to, if I can."
The woman's eyes widened in surprise. "Congratulations on the promotion. As far as the question goes, you should know I already tried asking Daniel, but he evaded answering me."
"What is it?" Sam asked warily, thinking that if Daniel hadn't wanted to answer the question, it had to be a doozy.
"Does my daughter, Cassandra, exist in this reality? If so, is she still alive here?" Another tear tracked its way down the woman's face as she looked beseechingly at Sam.
Sam blew out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and remained silent as she ran through the possible implications of answering the question.
"I realize that if she is alive, I can't see her," the woman said hurriedly. "I know it would be too confusing for her. I just need to know if she made it here. In my reality Cassie was killed on the day of the invasion. She was only 13 years old. When the goa'uld took me over, she got scared and tried to run away. They shot her in the back."
"I'm so sorry," Sam said numbly, sitting heavily in the guest chair beside the bed. Rubbing her hands thoughtfully on her fatigues, she felt the heavy frame of the picture in her pocket. After pondering a moment longer, she reached into the pocket, pulled it out and held it out to the woman.
"Oh, God, that was her 11th birthday party. The Disney princesses," the woman said with a quavering voice. "You were such a good sport to wear that tiara for her. I know the guys teased you for weeks afterwards."
Sam felt another tug at her heart, and hoped she was making the right decision. "Our Cassie is 17 and in high school now. She went through a difficult time a few years ago when another of Niirti's long term experiments on her planet came to term. We almost lost her. But she's a tough kid and she bounced back. Janet's death was very hard on her, but we found her a new family to stay with, and Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and I visit her as often as we can."
The woman's eyes filled with tears, but they were happy tears this time. "It's good to know that there's a reality where the goa'uld haven't managed to destroy all that's good about this world." She touched the picture fondly then reluctantly went to hand it back to Sam.
"It's okay. You can keep it if you want," Sam said hesitantly.
"Are you sure?" the woman asked hopefully.
"Sure. I have others."
"Thank you. And thank you for coming to see me. I know it must be difficult for you."
"Yeah, well, I've got to go. I've got a briefing in a little while and General Hammond will have my hide if I'm late."
"Okay," the woman said sadly.
Sam started to turn toward the door, then turned back again, "I could stop by again for a little while later on if you don't mind the company."
"I'd like that a lot," the woman smiled sadly. "Most of the staff avoid coming in here unless they absolutely have to. It seems my presence makes everyone uncomfortable."
Sam gave her a thin smile. "It's hard. No one even knows what to call you. We don't want to use her name, but the name the goa'uld was using is, well, pretty silly."
"Why don't you call me Elizabeth," the woman said thoughtfully. "That's my middle name. Perhaps it will make it easier for everyone if they can think of me as being a different person than your Dr. Fraiser."
"Okay, Elizabeth. We'll give it a try," Sam said with a relieved smile, then turned and left the room, feeling much better than when she'd entered it.
Carter stopped briefly at the nurse's station on her way out. When she finished her conversation with the nurse she'd talked to on her way in, she was pleased to see the young woman wearing a relieved smile of her own.
After Carter walked away, the nurse picked up a pen and pulled out the chart for the patient in Isolation Room #1. In the empty space next to 'Name', she wrote 'J. Elizabeth Fraiser' and her smile grew brighter.
"Okay, people, settle down and let's get started," General Hammond barked as O'Neill and SG-1 settled into their seats at the conference table. "We need to get this situation resolved today."
When everyone was settled, Daniel spoke up first. "I went to see . . . our guest after the briefing this morning to explain the situation and the decision we're trying to make about her future. She is understandably upset and feeling guilty about all the terrible things the goa'uld did while it was inside her body. She seemed grateful that we're even attempting to help her after everything she did to us while she was under the goa'uld's control and said she'll cooperate with whatever decision we come up with. No matter what it is," he added with a quick glance toward Carter.
"What are the options we are to consider, General Hammond?" Teal'c asked.
The General shrugged unconsciously, then pulled himself to his full height as he sat in the chair, clasped his hands in front of him and passed his gaze directly over each person at the table, making eye contact and holding it for a few seconds before moving to the next one. "Right now we're working with four options. Number 1, send her to Area 51 where she can be fully debriefed by the scientists there and work can be done on reversing, or at least attempting to improve, her condition."
"And what kind of life will she be allowed to have there?" Daniel objected. "I can't see the powers that be over there allowing her to be anything more than a glorified lab rat."
Ignoring the outburst, Hammond continued, "Option 2 is to debrief her, and if the results show that her medical training and skills are sufficient, reinstate her medical credentials and send her to another top secret facility where she will be allowed to work while her condition is monitored."
"And if her training and skills are not sufficient?" Teal'c asked.
"Back to glorified lab rat," O'Neill said, scribbling restlessly on his pad. "Right, General."
"Option 3," Hammond said coldly, "Is to send her offworld, perhaps to one of the planets we've visited that could use a full-time doctor or to one of our allies who could benefit from her knowledge of the alien races we've encountered and the information she can provide about the quantum mirrors."
"That may be problematic, sir," Carter said. "I stopped in to talk to Elizabeth . . . ."
Daniel, Teal'c and O'Neill looked at Carter in surprise as Hammond asked, "Elizabeth? Who is Elizabeth?"
"Elizabeth was Janet's middle name. Our guest suggested she use that as her name. She thought it would be more comfortable for everyone since it would give them a way to differentiate her from Janet."
"Make her seem more like a twin sister than a double?" O'Neill asked contemplatively.
"Something like that, sir," Carter replied.
"Elizabeth," Hammond said thoughtfully, a look of relief passing briefly over his face. "Please continue what you were saying, Colonel."
"I stopped in to talk to Elizabeth. She told me that in her dimension they never encountered the To'kra, so she doesn't have a lot of the information the To'kra gave us that would be of most value to our allies, such as how to remove goa'uld from hosts, the best ways to kill the symbiotes without harming the hosts, that type of thing. And we have no way of knowing what else about her reality's SGC experience is different."
"We intend to cover all of that in the debriefing."
"Of course, sir, but we also have to keep in mind that she was taken as a host approximately 5 years ago, which would have been in only the third year of our operations here. Many of our most important breakthroughs on the medical front and contacts with alien races happened after that point. That may mean that her helpfulness on that front will be severely limited."
"Noted. Option 4 is to keep her here at the SGC where we can monitor her closely. If her medical skills are comparable to our Dr. Fraiser's, she could be allowed limited duty rotations in the infirmary until we can fully assess her skill level and see what effect her presence has on the rest of the staff. If all goes well, there would be the possibility of returning her to full-time duty eventually."
"Carter was right about one of the things she said at the earlier briefing, General," O'Neill interrupted. "I took a stroll down to the isolation area today. Many of the staff there are having problems adjusting to 'Elizabeth's' simple presence there. There's no telling how they'll react if we actually put her on duty."
"I fail to see the relevance of the staff's reaction, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "Would they not have reacted similarly to Colonel Kawalsky had he remained with us, or to Dr. Carter? Yet it was decided to allow both of them to remain here until the entropic cascade problem was discovered and they were required to leave."
"That was an entirely different situation, Teal'c," Daniel said.
"How?" Teal'c asked.
"Because of the way our Janet died. It's very traumatic for everyone to have her suddenly 'resurrected' like this."
"Did not our Major Kawalsky die in a manner that was distressing to the staff of this base? And yet his counterpart was to be allowed to stay here," Teal'c responded
"And you died in a pretty awful way, but we still let you come back," O'Neill said innocently, as he doodled on his pad.
"That's totally different," Daniel said defensively. "I happen to still be me, not a duplicate me from another dimension."
"And how do we know that for sure?" O'Neill shot back.
Daniel frowned back at him, trying to think up an appropriate retort, but Hammond broke in, "That's enough, Jack. Dr. Fraiser is the subject of this meeting, not Dr. Jackson."
Daniel looked at the Generals suspiciously, not liking the way that last statement had been phrased. "Wait a minute. Were there meetings like this about me when I came back?"
O'Neill gave him an innocent look in response while Hammond simply glared and said coldly, "We're discussing Dr. Fraiser now."
"Begging your pardon, sir," Carter interrupted, "but you just made a very important point. Since all of this is about Elizabeth Fraiser, I think a very important person is being left out of the discussions."
"And who would that be, Colonel?"
"Elizabeth."
There were surprised looks all around the table. O'Neill was the first to recover. "That's a big change from this morning, Carter. Then you were ready to ship her off-planet without so much as a goodbye, let alone asking her if she minded going."
"Well, I took some very good advice that was given to me by someone I respect very much and decided to go meet the person whose life I was so blithely offering opinions about."
"You did?" O'Neill said, a surprised and delighted grin spreading across his face.
"Pete Shanahan gives good advice," Teal'c said evenly.
"Yes, he does," Carter said with a slight smile as she glanced at O'Neill and saw his face fall.
She did her best to stifle the smile as she heard O'Neill mutter sulkily under his breath, "Well, if Pete said it, it must be good advice."
General Hammond was frowning. "I'm not entirely sure, Dr. Fr . . . Elizabeth, is in any condition to be part of these discussions."
"When I was downstairs earlier I took the liberty of suggesting to the nurse on duty that
she get Elizabeth cleaned up and dressed in case she was needed at the briefing. She's prepared to come up at your order, General."
Hammond gave her a measuring look and finally said, "Very well, Colonel." Turning to his aide, he said, "Have her escorted up here." Turning back to the table he said, "In the meantime, where do we stand on the entropic cascade failure problem."
"According to the data Maleficent gave me that was accumulated by my counterparts in other dimensions, it seems that we have a few things going for us. We do know from what happened to Dr. Carter that the effects of entropic cascade failure are accelerated if two counterparts of the same per-son are in the same dimension. But it does appear from the data that the effects can be minimized for weeks or months by putting physical distance between the two -- I'm talking galaxy sized distance, not just placing one on the other side of the planet. That's not going to matter here, because our Janet is dead. Since there is only one of her currently occupying this dimension, that variable will no longer be as significant.
"One of the theories suggests that it could still be helpful to keep the counterpart at a great distance from where the original occupant of the dimension lived or worked, but that particular line of research doesn't seem to have been followed up on.
"Interestingly, we originally thought that the more similar the time lines are, the easier it would be to integrate a counterpart from one dimension into another, but one of the new theories suggests that actually the opposite is true. The theory suggests that the more divergent the time lines are, the easier it is for the dimension to accept additional divergence.
"And that could make a big difference in Elizabeth's case. Her world has been taken over by the goa'uld. According to her, our counterparts there are dead, their Yu, Niirti and Cronus are dead and her symbiote had seized control of the goa'uld forces. Their SGC never encountered the To'kra. All of these are major differences. It could mean additional months or even years before entropic cascade failure sets in. It also means that putting additional physical distance between her and the SGC, or even Earth, probably won't make that much of a difference.
"There are several additional theories, but some of them are clearly not viable so I believe they may have just been smokescreens used by my counterparts to buy time."
Sam's report was interrupted by the sound of the briefing room door opening. All eyes went to the stairway leading up from the door and a few second later, General Hammond's aide returned with Elizabeth Fraiser following close behind. She stopped uncertainly at the top of the steps as five pairs of eyes studied her. Instead of Janet Fraiser's normal dress pants and blouse or air force uniform covered by a white lab coat, Elizabeth was dressed in fatigue pants and jacket over a white undershirt. The reddish blond hair spilled to her shoulders instead of being up in a neat bun as had been Fraiser's habit when she even allowed the hair to get that long.
"Thank you for joining us, . . . Elizabeth. Please have a seat," General Hammond said gently.
"Thank you, General," the woman said nervously, sliding into an empty chair Daniel had pulled between his own and the General's so she wouldn't have to walk all the way around the table to get to an empty one.
"How are you feeling?" Hammond asked solicitously.
"Much better today, sir. Thank you for asking. I had some visitors who really perked up my spirits." She gave a quick glance and a smile to Daniel and Sam.
"That's good," Hammond responded. "I understand Dr. Jackson talked to you about the decision that's being made. Colonel Carter thought you should have some say in the outcome."
"Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. And I do have a few thoughts on the subject."
"Well," O'Neill said lounging against the doorjamb of Carter's office, "I never saw that one coming."
"Yeah, it definitely surprised me," Daniel said, spinning himself in slow circles on Sam's office chair.
"Indeed," Teal'c responded from his position leaning against the bookcase.
"I don't know why," Carter responded with a smile, as she stood by her lab table glancing over the schematics for the zapper device. "It makes perfect sense."
"And when was the last time anything in any of our lives made perfect sense?" O'Neill asked.
"Excellent point," Daniel responded with relief. "That's why we never even thought about it."
"I am glad Dr. Fraiser has found a way to be useful," Teal'c said.
"And we'll still be able to keep an eye on her and occasionally go for a visit," Carter added.
"And she has you to thank for it, Sam," Daniel said, halting the spin of the chair for a moment. "If you hadn't taken Pete's advice and gone to talk with her, things would probably have turned out a lot differently."
"Yeah, good ole Pete," O'Neill added with a hint of annoyance.
"Well, actually," Sam said with a mischievous smile, "that advice came from another person I greatly respect and admire before I even had a chance to talk to Pete. But when he agreed with it, I knew it was the right thing to do."
"Really?" O'Neill said, his eyes lighting up as a small smile played across his lips.
Shifting slightly so her back was to Daniel and Teal'c, Sam allowed her expression to become more serious as she mouthed the words 'Thank you, sir,' to O'Neill. His smile grew wider as he gave a slight nod in acknowledgment and mouthed back, 'Good job, Carter.'
Back on P5C-447, a research team from the SGC was meeting with the village leaders to work out a plan to help the inhabitants of that world adjust to their new status as a free people, no longer beholden to any goa'uld master.
Tanin, Rajin and Kelden sat across the table from the research team leader, Major Duncan, and his two aides. Tanin couldn't help staring at the aide to Duncan's left. The woman looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place her. Her light brown hair was cut in a short, simple, easy to care for style that complemented her delicate features but wouldn't be in the way while she worked. The standard SGC uniform of black t-shirt and khaki pants and jacket hid her shapely figure while the regulation combat boots did little to hide the fact that she was barely 5'2" tall.
Tanin's attention was pulled back to the Major as he started to introduce the woman. "And this is my aide, Dr. Elizabeth Fraiser. She will be assisting us in assessing the medical condition of your people to make sure the goa'uld wasn't conducting any tests or other experiments that could be detrimental to your health. She'll also be teaching you about some of the medical advances we've made that can help your people live longer, healthier lives. And she'll also give you a crash course in goa'uld physiology in case you ever come across a goa'uld again and need to know how to hurt or kill it."
"Welcome, doctor," Tanin said politely, "you honor us with your presence."
"It is you who honor me," Elizabeth replied, relieved that there was no indication in his voice or body language that he recognized her to be his former goddess, "by allowing me to be part of your future -- a future where we are all free and are willing and able to work together to help each other grow and learn."
THE END