Ivory Towers And Bloody Flowers
sg_udjat
Summary: Jack really should stay away from the plant life.
Originally posted online in Dec 01 for the now defunct Word-a-Month site. October's word was 'Fodder'.
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'Something wicked this way comes.' With a faint shudder O'Neill shook off the morbid thought and continued on his self appointed patrol, grimly forcing his way through the dense undergrowth that cloaked the forest floor. There was something about this area that set off his internal warning system and he had been on edge all morning, snapping and griping at the rest of the team as the crawling feeling along his spine intensified. Glancing up at the sky had only increased his sense of apprehension - it was the colour of a snow laden sky at home, the kind of strange sullen appearance that warned of bad weather on the way. Carter had humoured him by listening to his dire warnings of trouble on the way, before patiently explaining that it was the natural colour for this planet's sky. The warm sun beaming down upon them had lent credence to her statement, but still he couldn't stop checking the weather obsessively and the heavy, still air pressing down on him like a suffocating blanket felt like the calm before a storm.
"Carter, status report." He knew the irritation was plain to hear in his abrupt command, but O'Neill was beyond worrying about upsetting anyone. He leant against one of the dull grey-green tree trunks, surveying the small clearing even as he ensured that his back was protected from surprise attack. Tramping around the forest hadn't served to work off any of his excess energy and if anything he was growing even more twitchy. Tightening his grip on his P-90 reflexively, he waited for Carter to respond.
"Carter here, Sir. We've moved over to the fourth tower as agreed. Daniel has identified some more of the writing on the screens we've been finding in the inner chambers and wants to record it." Carter's tinny voice echoed up from the radio, the distortion not managing to disguise the excitement in her voice. "I estimate we'll need at least another three hours and then we'd like to check out the next tower in the group."
Rubbing his calloused thumb between his brows to ease the headache that was lurking there, O'Neill resisted the impulse to deny the request. Apart from the almost permanent crawling sensation down his spine, there had been no sign of any threats to his small team. Daniel had been ecstatic at the discovery of the group of eight slim, white towers rising up from the densely forested valley floor and had begged for a chance to explore them. Carter's discovery that the delicate, almost translucent material the towers were constructed of was an unknown substance that was surprisingly impervious to everything thrown at it, including the energy from a staff weapon blast, had ensured that General Hammond had agreed to an extension of their stay.
"Roger that. Let me know when you're ready to move and I'll head on back in." As much as he felt the almost compulsive need to identify the nebulous threat he perceived in the surrounding forest, he also felt the need to be with his team and ensure that they were safe. Only the thought that Teal'c had stayed behind with the two scientists had allowed him to be away for this long. He knew that Teal'c, and for that matter Carter as well, was well armed and trained to fight.
Thumbing the radio off with a decisive snap, O'Neill gripped his P-90 even tighter and slowly spun on the spot, eyes scanning the surrounding forest intently. Everything was quiet, peaceful. Too quiet, he suddenly realised, able at last to identify one of the factors that had been unnerving him. There were no animal sounds, no hoots, whistles or grunts echoed through the forest to give any indication of the presence of any of the native wildlife. During his turn at night watch he had been startled on several occasions by the deep mournful coughing howls which rang through the trees and drowned out the chittering of the small tree dwelling mammals they had spotted. The noisey chorus of the nocturnal birds had also been loud and lively, in direct contrast to this almost deafening silence of the daylight hours.
Casting his mind back, O'Neill realised that the unnatural quiet had only descended as they entered the valley, before that their journey through the forest had been accompanied by the usual cacophony of warning cries from the wildlife. But once they reached the valley the sound of the forest inhabitants had died away, leaving only a stultifying stillnessin it's place.
Identifying the cause of his unease did nothing to assuage it however. He had spent too much time sneaking around the various jungles and forests of his home planet, alert to the early warning system of a change in wildlife noises, to be reassured that the absence of any such cries heralded anything good. Deliberating his choices he decided to continue with his patrol round the perimeter of the tower area. Too restless and uneasy to sit and passively watch the excited scientists drool over their latest discovery, O'Neill had made his excuses and escaped to patrol the perimeter instead, even though there had been no sign of any danger in the three days they had been on the planet. In fact they hadn't spotted a creature larger than a pig during their entire stay, and that particular animal had squawked in terror and fled upon seeing them. He had needed to burn off some of the nervous energy that was twitching through his body and going on a reconnaissance / patrol would help to focus some of that surplus energy into a useful activity.
Alert and tense he proceeded warily, eyes restlessly scanning the immediate area. A sudden noise, startling in the thick silence, caused him to spin round with his gun ready and nerves jangling. Unfortunately as he spun his feet were tangled in the creeping ivy like plant which grew on the forest floor and he sprawled heavily to the ground. A blinding pain sliced down his arm but his grip on his weapon didn't loosen as he looked around and tried to spot the source of the noise that had spooked him. A slight rustling sound drew his attention to a patch of the clinging ivy, and one of the indistinct, greeny coloured flowers was pushed to one side as a small rodent foraged for food in the undergrowth.
'Great,' O'Neill muttered in disgust as he imagined the reaction if word of this got out. 'If the Marines ever hear about this I'll be finding squeaky toy mice in my locker for the next six months.' Taking a deep breath he tried to calm down from the adrenaline high and slowly pushed himself upright. Hissing in pain at the movement he looked at his arm and let out a heartfelt groan. When he'd tumbeled to the ground he had managed to slice his arm open somehow and blood was seeping sluggishly from the long ragged wound. To make matters worse when he had rolled over on the forest floor he had managed to crush some of the creeping ivy, and sap and pollen from the broken stems and squashed flowers coated the wound site. Fraiser was going to have a field day with him when he got back as there was a definite probability that the wound had been contaminated with an alien substance. That meant another stint in isolation until they were sure he wasn't going to break out in purple spots or something.
Reaching for his water bottle O'Neill attempted to wash out the gash and remove as much of the sap and pollen as he could, all the time bitterly regretting leaving the small med pack behind at the camp. That was just the sort of stupid mistake he was always calling Daniel on and it galled him to think he had been so distracted by his own dire imaginings. Pulling out his knife he carefully cut a piece off the bottom of his t-shirt to use as a bandage, as it was virtually the only piece of his clothing, aside from his underwear, that wasn't coated with a fine dusting of pollen. Holding one end of the cloth strip in his teeth, he doggedly wound the makeshift bandage around his arm and then struggled to tie it off. Gritting his teeth and panting harshly from his exertions, he waited for the pain in his arm to die down to a dull throbbing before he climbed unsteadily to his feet.
Stubbornly he decided to continue with his patrol, after all it was only a gash to the arm and wasn't in any way a life threatening injury. He estimated that it would take him thirty to forty minutes to complete his circumnavigation of the area. A few staggering steps that saw him almost careen into a large tree trunk soon convinced him that he needed to get back to the camp. Turning his face towards where he thought the towers were situated, he started walking slowly and cautiously, determined to be back with the rest of his team as soon as possible.
. . .
Pausing to rest yet again against one of the sturdy trees, O'Neill wiped a shaky hand across his sweaty face and attempted to focus his eyes. The trees and bushes ahead of him dipped and looped in a sickening swirl and he felt the nausea rising in his throat at the disorientating sight. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath to steady his turbulent stomach and quickly assessed his condition. His injured arm hung numbly at his side and he knew from his last check that the bleeding hadn't stopped, but had infact increased to the point that the blood soaked cloth bandage needed changing. He had been stumbling through the forest in an increasingly erratic manner and he had a sneaking suspicion that he had been going round in circles for at least the last hour, although his sense of time seemed strangely distorted. At times it felt like it took him minutes to move one step and then he felt like the day was rushing by.
Vaguely he realised that he was due somewhere, that someone was waiting for him, but it took several long minutes before he remembered his conversation with Carter. Turning round he tried to determine which was the right direction to take the shortest route back to the towers, but the ground slid sickeningly away from him and he staggered backwards. Leaning back against the tree which had prevented his falling down in an undignified heap, he closed his eyes until the ground finally stopped swaying.
Wiping the clammy sweat from his face he recalled a lecture given by one of his survival instructors on the dangers of dehydration; he couldn't quite recall what those dangers were now, but he knew it was bad. After shaking his empty canteen dispiritedly he let it fall to the floor, his numb fingers cramping spasmodically. He had greedily drunk the last of his water on his previous stop and now his throat and mouth felt as dry as the Abydonian desert. In an increasingly rare moment of clarity he realised that he was in trouble and in serious need of some help from his team. It appeared that his suspicions about an alien contamination from the plant were correct, and he so hated being right in these situations.
He had no choice, he would have to swallow his pride and call his team for help. Fumbling for his radio he was alarmed to note that the numbness had spread across his chest and down his other arm. Opening his eyes wider he focussed his gaze and tried to concentrate on moving his hand to the radio, but his unco-operative limb merely twitched feebly and remained limply at his side.
Sinking to the ground as his shaking legs finally gave out O'Neill collapsed into an untidy heap on the forest floor, his limbs flung out in a haphazard fashion. His subconscious was screaming at him to get up, call for help, do something. Slowly his eyes drifted closed until he lay pale and still in a patch of undergrowth, his life blood slowly trickling down his arm and dripping on the glossy leaves of the ground covering ivy.
. . .
"Ready?" Major Samantha Carter was well acquainted with her friend's ability to become distracted by 'fascinating' finds to the exclusion of everything else around him. She could sympathise with his apparent fascination with these towers, they were truly unique. So far the small blue hued screens Daniel was currently studying had been found in several rooms of each tower, usually the larger rooms on the upper floors, and flowing lines of some cursive script had filled each one. The rooms had also been full of recognisable items such as workbenches, basic lab equipment and lots of dust and debris. Tantalising holes in the walls and gaps testified that some of the fittings had been removed, hinting at a controlled evacuation of the location.
"Hmm?" Dr Daniel Jackson looked up from his half full notebook and absently pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Oh right, tower number five." Rising to his feet he brushed the accumulated dust from his trousers and then carefully replaced his notebook in his pack. "Some of the writing seems to be identical in each tower." He pointed to the first panel which was situated next to the main staircase. "After that the script alters on each one, although there are a lot of identical words and phrases common to nearly all the screens."
"Perhaps it is an identifying sign, or greeting." Teal'c stood next to the panel that Daniel had indicated. "Anyone visiting the tower would see this screen first."
"Hmm, good point." Daniel nodded slowly already thinking of the next stage. "If that's the case, then it's reasonable to assume that the next panel would list the work or people within the tower."
Leaving Daniel and Teal'c to discuss the possible welcome signs, Carter moved slightly off to one side and toggled her radio to check in with O'Neill. Glancing quickly at her watch, she noted that the allocated three hours had come and gone with no further communication from the Colonel. A faint sense of unease filled her at this unusual breach of procedure from the normally punctual man.
The team were all too aware of the O'Neill's growing agitation, a feeling that seemed to be shared to a lesser degree by Teal'c, and none of them had been surprised when he had proved incapable of sitting and watching them work. Daniel had even muttered his relief that O'Neill would no longer be hovering over him and breathing down his neck, but would instead be channelling his restless energy into something useful.
"Colonel? Colonel, come in." Tapping her fingers lightly on the radio, Carter waited for the expected caustic response. As the silence stretched on she became increasingly concrened. "Colonel? This is Sierra Golf One to Colonel O'Neill, come in Sir."
"Sam?" Daniel moved up to stand next to her, frowning in worry as her hails grew more urgent.
Repeated calls brought no response and all thoughts of continuing the exploration of the towers was soon forgotten as their concern for their missing colleague grew.
"Teal'c, did you see which way the Colonel went?" Carter abandoned her fruitless attempts to contact O'Neill and began preparing to go out and search for him.
"Indeed, O'Neill was most insistent in telling me his proposed route." Teal'c was also removing any extraneous equipment from his vest and pack, preparing like Carter to move fast and stealthily.
"Daniel, try raising the Colonel on your radio." Carter knew it was probably useless,as she was certain that her radio was functioning correctly.
"Jack? Jack, are you there?" Daniel looked at Carter and shrugged helplessly, his worried frown growing as the realisation sank in that something must have happened to O'Neill.
"Okay. Teal'c, you take point. I'll bring up the rear." Carter checked that they were all ready to move out and with a final look around the tower room and their piles of discarded equipment she followed her team mates out into the encroaching forest.
. . .
After a few hours they were forced to stop their increasingly desperate search and return to the protection of the towers and abandon the forest completely. Night had fallen with the sudden swiftness they had grown accustomed to during their stay on this planet and trekking through the gloomy and treacherous terrain had become almost impossible as the light had faded. Their flashlights were spectacularly useless in the densely wooded area, barely penetrating past the first tree. They had the choice of shining their flashlights downwards in order to check their footing or forwards to avoid the dense, ground hugging shrubbery and low hanging tree branches. After numerous trips, falls and smacking boughs in the face, Carter made the difficult decision to call a halt to the search until the morning.
The long night hours passed in sullen silence as everyone was too uncomfortable and worried to rest properly, grabbing short restless naps interspersed by long periods of sitting by the fire in silence. Even Daniel had given up on his attempt to distract himself and his half full notebooks lay unnoticed by his pack. The small fire provided enough heat and light to make the room comfortable and the fragrant wood smoke drifted out of one of the opened windows in a leisurely plume. Cradling his mug of lukewarm coffee in his hands Daniel couldn't prevent himself from obsessing on O'Neill's situation. Although not freezing, the nights in the forest were chill and damp, neither of which would be good for an injured man. Placing the half full mug of coffee to one side he slowly climbed to his feet and went to stand by one of the large windows and peered out onto the dark forest.
"Daniel?"
At the sound Carter's sleepy voice, Daniel refocused his gaze on the window itself. The large glass like pane acted as a mirror in the dark and he could clearly see Carter pushing herself upright and smoothing down her sleep tousled hair. He watched as she looked down at her watch and grimaced, clearly dismayed by how little time had passed.
"I was looking to see if Jack had managed to light a fire…" his voice trailed off in embarrassment and he gave a half shrug. "If he's injured he'll be cold."
"The Colonel's tough, he'll be okay." Carter's reassuring words were cut off by the loud wailing howl that echoed through the valley. "Damn!" She struggled to control the pounding of her heart that the unexpected howl had triggered, annoyed at her instinctive response to the eerie sound. "He'll be fine." She repeated the token reassurance, no longer certain if she was talking to Daniel or to herself.
The long hours dragged by and their repeated hails continued to go unanswered, only adding to their increasing worry and concern. But eventually the long night ended and they could all abandon the pretence of sleeping. After a cold breakfast of ration bars and water they set out once more, eager to continue their search as soon as possible. The sun was barely above the horizon and the damp mist still filled the valley, adding a ghostly and forbidding dimension to the silent forest.
Thinning wisps of vapour trailed through the forest, twining around the trees like the ever present ivy which seemed to thrive in the gloomy environment. Grimly determined they made their way to the position they had been forced to abandon last night and resumed their search pattern.
Less than ten minutes later Daniel literally stumbled over the missing man.
Teal'c had been the first one to spot the unusual blooms, the riot of colour in the almost monochromatic surroundings was startling to say the least. The ubiquitous creeping ivy had tiny indistinct flowers in a sickly shade of dull green, but in this one area the blooms were large and brilliantly hued, the deep magenta of the large petals standing out vibrantly against the gloomy forest floor.
More interested in locating the missing Colonel, Carter had been prepared to move past the flowers with barely a glance. They had almost completed a full circle around the towers and she was starting to think that the trail they had been following wasn't the Colonel's at all. The tracks traced a weaving route through the trees, looping round and doubling back on themselves in a haphazard manner. It looked as though they Colonel had broken off from his patrol and had started to head back to the largest tower, but then he had apparently become disoriented. Desperately hoping that the Colonel had only suffered a minor and easily correctable radio mishap, Carter was startled out of her thoughts by Daniel's yelp of surprise.
Turning round she saw that Daniel had sprawled full length on the forest floor and was lying amidst the magenta flowers. For one hysterical minute she was reminded of the scene from American Beauty, but her incipient giggle was cut off in a strangled squawk as she caught sight of Daniel's horrified expression.
"Jack!" Frantically pulling aside the blooms he had been admiring only a second before, Daniel revealed a khaki clad arm, the outflung limb was obviously the object which had tripped him up.
Dropping to their knees Teal'c and Carter helped Daniel to rip away the clinging ivy which covered the disturbingly still form in a thick mat, ignoring the numerous small but deep cuts they received from the thorny stems. Eventually they freed O'Neill from his vegetative prison and Carter began carefully checking him for any signs of injury. The immediately obvious one was the long and bloody gash to his arm and although it appeared the Colonel had made a rough attempt to bandage it, the dressing was now soaked through with blood as was his torn jacket sleeve. Discovering no further injuries Carter carefully directed them to roll O'Neill over onto his back so she could check his ribs more thoroughly.
Finally satisfied that the arm injury was the only one the Colonel had sustained and with no explanation for the Colonel's continued state of deep unconsciousness, she set about re-applying a new sterile dressing from the med kit, carelessly tossing the blood soaked cloth to one side in her haste. It was obvious that the Colonel had attempted to clean the jagged wound but it was still bleeding freely and Carter hurriedly re-bandaged it.
"Let's get him back to the camp." Looking around she spotted the towers through the tress and realised bitterly that they were within half a klick of their original starting point. If they had set off the other way they would have found the Colonel much sooner.
Silently Teal'c hoisted the unconscious man off the ground and set out for the base at a steady pace, Daniel trailing behind him and carrying Teal'c's staff weapon.
. . .
Tossing aside yet another blood soaked dressing Carter frowned as she watched fresh blood well up from the wound. Despite her best attempts she had been unsuccessful in stemming the blood flow and was growing worried as their meagre medical supplies dwindled and the Colonel's condition deteriorated. After re-dressing the wound yet again she wiped the sweat from O'Neill's clammy brow, growing more concerned at his pallid appearance and continued unconsciousness. He was slipping into shock and she knew that his continued blood loss was now a cause for concern. Admitting to herself that this situation was beyond her first aid skills, she quickly made a decision.
"Teal'c, Daniel, pack up. We're heading back to the Stargate, the Colonel needs to get to the infirmary as soon as possible."
"Hmm," Daniel gave a non committal grunt as he washed his arms in some of their precious water supply. His forearms were peppered with numerous small cuts, each one bleeding slowly but steadily. Although individually they amounted to very little, the combined blood from all the cuts was slowly turning his damp forearm bright red.
"My god Daniel, why didn't you say something?" Carter moved to check Daniel's injury, annoyed that the other man hadn't thought to mention this before.
"It's nothing, they're minor." Defensively Daniel pulled his arm back as he mumbled the comment.
Frowning as she snatched his arm back, Carter looked at the cuts closely. " You're right, these are minor and I'd tend to agree with you if they had stopped bleeding." She glanced up at Daniel with in concern. "These really should have stopped bleeding by now." Rising to her feet she looked at O'Neill and then back to Daniel, pursing her lips in concentration. Finally she shook her head as the nebulous thought in her brain refused to take form. "I'd like to keep the larger dressings for the Colonel's injury, but we should bandage your arms to protect them from any further contamination."
Pooling the contents of the four medical kits she was dismayed at the meagre contents. Plenty of band aids and eye wash for some peculiar reason, along with burn cream and antiseptic ointment, but a distressing shortage of large dressings. They had already used the full complement of dressings from two kits and O'Neill's wound showed no sign of the bleeding slowing down.
"urrr"
"Jack!" Daniel leant over O'Neill and called encouragingly. "Come on, open your eyes."
"daniel."
Leaning even closer in order to hear the whispered words, Daniel tried to hide his dismay at the weak and breathy sound of his friend's normally strong voice. "I'm here Jack."
"what..happened?" O'Neill's eyes slitted open slightly and his unfocussed gaze wandered round the room as though he wasn't really seeing anything.
"We were hoping you could tell us." Tightening his grip on O'Neill's arm Daniel tried to force the injured man's attention back on to him. To his growing distress O'Neill continued to vaguely stare around him until his eyes began to drift shut once more.
"Colonel? Colonel, wake up." Carter shook O'Neill's shoulder gently, trying to urge the disorientated man to open his eyes. Rummaging in the pack lying on the floor next to O'Neill she shot Daniel a quick glance. "Daniel, see if you can get him to respond. I need to assess his condition."
Nodding in understanding, Daniel bent down and began to call to O'Neill in an insistent tone. "Jack. Jack, wake up. Come on, open your eyes. Jack. Can you hear me?"
"urr, shuddup." O'Neill groaned and tried to roll over and get away from the annoying droning sound in his ear. "wanna sleep." He kept his eyes closed and his words were forced out in a slurred mumble as he vainly twisted in Daniel's grip.
"What happened Jack?"
"slipped…fell. don't wanna get up, wanna sleep. lemme 'lone." Even indistinct and weak, O'Neill's voice was taking on a decidedly sulky tenor and Daniel grinned as he suddenly pictured an adolescent O'Neill stubbornly burrowing under his bedclothes in order to avoid going to school.
"Colonel," Carter tapped his face gently with two fingers as she tried to get him to open his eyes. "Colonel, can you hear me?" Seeing that the Colonel had relapsed into a state of unconsciousness she lifted her gaze up to Daniel's worried face with a resigned sigh. "He's gone again. We really need to be getting back to the SGC."
"Erm , Sam?" Daniel hesitated to be the bearer of more bad news, but he silently pointed towards her hands. Two small cuts on one of her hands were bleeding heavily, far more than was to be expected given the extremely minor nature of the injury. "It looks like you need to bandage some cuts as well."
"What the…?" Frowning she looked down at her hand, absently wiping the blood onto her trouser legs. "These cuts are from the thorns on the ivy. Daniel, you cut yourself when you fell, right?"
"Yeah, I tripped over Jack's arm and fell into that patch of ivy stuff." Daniel could see that Carter was on the track of something.
"It must be the plant. It must have some sort of anti-coagulant agent either coating it or in it's sap. That's why none of our cuts are healing up…" Carter rose to her feet and began pacing as she worked through her theory. "I've been wearing latex gloves when treating the Colonel, I only touched the plant briefly. But you," she paused and glanced at Daniel's bandaged arms, "fell right into a patch of the stuff. And the Colonel was completely covered by it."
"But why? What purpose would it serve?" Daniel couldn't envisage why a plant would have that sort of ability. "It isn't for defence, it wouldn't kill the attacker quickly enough to save the plant."
"Food."
"What?" Daniel twisted round to gape up at Teal'c.
"Teal'c's right, it must be for food, nourishment." Seeing that Daniel was going to protest, she quickly hurried on, "Some gardeners on Earth use fish blood and bone on their plants, and my grandmother always used to use dried blood on her black grape vines. Maybe these plants have adapted so that the minerals found in blood are essential to it, rather than just desirable. If it can inflict a cut on an animal with the thorns and then ensure that the cut will keep bleeding, then as the injured animal wanders it will merely fertilise a larger area." Finally slowing to a halt she moved over to one of the windows and stood gazing upon the seemingly innocent forest. "And I know how to prove it."
"How?"
"We need to make a quick trip back into the forest."
"No way, Sam. I am not going to be a guinea pig and see if the carnivorous plants feed on my blood." Daniel curled over his injured arms protectively.
Snorting with laughter, Carter ignored Daniel's comments and spoke to Teal'c instead. "Can you stay here with the Colonel? We'll be moving out when we get back from this little side trip. I need to confirm my hypothesis before we return and gather some samples; it should help Janet devise a treatment protocol."
"As you wish, Major Carter." Teal'c didn't look happy, but he understood the need to split their small group.
"Come on Daniel, I don't want to waste too much time." Ignoring the faint grumbling behind her, Carter quickly prepared for another journey into the forest.
. . .
Upon entering the small clearing they were struck once again by the vibrant hue of the large blooms, but knowing the reason behind their sudden appearance gave them a sinister cast. To Daniel they looked liked large splotches of blood scattered on the ground and his earlier interest in them had given way to a visceral horror.
Nodding thoughtfully as she peered around the clearing, Carter slowly paced around the extensive patch of flowers and then paused, dropping to her knees to closely inspect the ivy growing on the ground.
"Daniel, come and look at this." Carefully she pushed some of the dull leaves to one side and revealed some fat buds, a faint hint of magenta showing around the tightly furled petals. Digging a little deeper through the undergrowth, she cautiously revealed the discarded blood soaked bandage that she had tossed to one side when treating O'Neill. "Pretty convincing proof."
Grunting in agreement, Daniel pulled out some sample containers and handed them down to Carter. "Typical. Survive the Goa'uld and get taken down by a plant!"
Snipping at some of the leaves, stems and buds, Carter gradually obtained all the necessary samples, even digging down a bit into the loamy ground to remove a section of root. Straightening up, she gazed around the clearing once more, clearly searching for something. "That's samples of both the normal ivy and the blood affected ivy, now we just need to find where the Colonel was originally injured if possible."
"Can we afford the delay?" Judging from the position of the sun, Daniel estimated they had already lost a quarter of the day. If they postponed their departure much longer then they wouldn't get out of the valley before nightfall.
"I just need to check a few more things. The Colonel is suffering from the effects of an anti-coagulant, but I think he's been affected by something else as well. I know he's lost a lot of blood, but he's acting more like he's been given a sedative." Exclaiming in satisfaction as she spotted the signs of O'Neill's unsteady trail, she continued explaining as she slowly backtracked the Colonel's weaving tracks. "We need to be sure that there isn't something else in his system, and the only way to determine that is to see where he was injured and by what."
Frowning slightly in concentration, Daniel examined his own bandaged arm thoughtfully. "I don't feel sleepy and yet it's almost impossible to wake Jack, so maybe I missed out on those effects."
"Which just lends credence to my theory that the Colonel has been affected by two different sources."
The conversation died down as Carter concentrated on following O'Neill's tracks, eventually coming to the spot where he had fallen. They had known they were on the right trail by the intermittent appearance of the blood red flowers, although they were in far fewer numbers and the blooms were smaller.
The larger cluster of blooms were an indication that more blood had been spilt in this area and it was likely to be the place were O'Neill had been initially injured. Mindful of the thorns on the ivy, Carter carefully crouched down and once again began collecting samples. Several differences were immediately obvious and she noted them as she worked. "The thorns on this section of ivy are much longer and tougher, and the plant seems to be covered in small greeny flowers in the rest of the clearing."
"We've seen those flowers before though, in other parts of the forest." Daniel wasn't arguing, merely stating his observations.
"Yes, but these seem to have much larger stamens and the leaves are coated with a sticky sap." She looked up and noticed that the air was the small spores dancing in the filtered sunlight. "Aren't they bothering you?"
Shrugging, Daniel shook his head. "My allergies are pretty much under control these days."
"Right, I think that's enough. I've got samples of everything." Brushing the pollen off her knees with one gloved hand, she lifted up the sample cases with the other. "Let's get back to the towers and get the Colonel home."
. . .
Pacing around the room, Teal'c studiously kept his mind blank, concentrating on guarding the perimeter. He found O'Neill's stillness and silence to be unsettling and his occasional glances at the injured man did nothing to reassure him. Normally when he was injured the Colonel was most vocal in his complaints, both about the injury itself and the subsequent first aid treatment that was inflicted upon him by his well-meaning team mates. The only other times Teal'c had seen his friend in a similar condition, it had always been within the comforting surroundings of the SGC infirmary and under the care of the indomitable Dr Fraiser.
"Carter to Teal'c. We're heading back in, ETA 10 minutes." The tinny voice echoed up from the radio, shattering the heavy silence in the room.
"Acknowledged Major Carter, I shall be ready." Teal'c moved over to check their equipment once again; their packs had been stripped down to carry the bare minimum in an effort to keep the weight down and the surplus equipment was stacked neatly against one wall. Satisfied that the packs held all their essential supplies, Teal'c crouched down next to O'Neill to assess his condition. His medical knowledge was limited; Jaffa who served on the battlefield tended to heal themselves, were healed by the Goa'uld hand device or died. Unfortunately he was becoming something of an expert in judging the condition of his Tau'ri friends, having been a witness to one or other of them being injured on far too many occasions. O'Neill was pale, even his lips held no colour and his face, neck and chest were coated in a fine sheen of sweat even though minute shivers coursed through his still frame. Resting a hand gently on O'Neill's brow, Teal'c estimated that O'Neill was running a slight fever, although certainly not one high enough to account for the Colonel's continued semi-conscious condition. A quick check of his pulse revealed a slow and steady beat, although Teal'c struggled to detect the faint throbbing. If it weren't for the continued blood loss from the arm wound Teal'c wouldn't have been too worried, but it was difficult to remain aloof while O'Neill's blood dripped constantly and steadily on the floor beneath his bandaged arm.
Just as he was pulling the blanket back up to cover O'Neill and to hide the disturbing evidence of his injury, Teal'c heard Carter and Daniel enter the tower, their clatter a welcome intrusion upon his introspective mood. Although he was curious to hear about their discoveries in the forest, he was also anxious to start back to the gate and return to the SGC.
Raising an eyebrow he watched in some amusement as first Daniel and then Carter staggered into the room, each dragging a sturdy sapling behind them, leaves and pieces of bark falling to the floor in a shower of debris. Dropping his load with a grunt, Daniel absently wiped his sticky hands on his trouser legs.
"How's Jack?"
"O'Neill's condition remains unchanged."
Dropping her sapling next to Daniel's, Carter swiped the back of her hand over her sweaty brow. "We thought we could use these to rig up a stretcher. We'll have to carry the Colonel back to the 'gate and this should make it easier."
Leaving Carter and Teal'c to assemble a stretcher, Daniel sat down next to O'Neill and checked him . Seeing that his bandage needed changing, Daniel quickly stripped the soiled one off O'Neill's arm. To his annoyance the bandage seemed to stick to his hand and he shook it energetically to try and dislodge the stubborn dressing. Finally he scraped it off against his leg, sighing in exasperation as he noticed that the remnants of the sticky residue still coated his hands despite his effort at cleaning them. Wary of contaminating O'Neill's wound with yet another alien substance, Daniel called Carter over.
"Sam, could you redress Jack's injury. I have something on my hands." Daniel continued trying to wipe his hands clean as he spoke, a faint grimace creasing his brow as the stubborn substance remained.
"Erm, sorry Daniel, but I'm in a worse state. I think it's sap from the trees we cut down, I've got the stuff all over me." Holding her two grimy hands up in evidence, Carter shrugged apologetically. "We can purify some more water when we stop at the stream on the way back to the 'gate, so use as much as you need to try and get this stuff off." Rubbing her own hands vigorously she grinned over at him, "You may have to boil the water though."
"Great." Muttering and mumbling as he sorted through the supplies, Daniel hunted for some of the latex gloves that normally formed part of a blood spillage pack. Finally admitting to himself that they had all been used he began scrubbing his hands in the cold water from his canteen. After several minutes he was satisfied that his hands were as clean as they were going to get and he carefully cleansed and redressed O'Neill's injury. "Hey, Sam. Should we put a tourniquet on Jack's arm to try and slow the bleeding?" Daniel's gaze was firmly fixed on the sight of another fat drop of blood gathering to fall to the ground, the slow but steady blood loss seemed to fascinate him. It was like watching the sand run out of an egg-timer, once the sand was gone it was all over.
Leaving Teal'c to put the finishing touches to the sturdy home made stretcher, Carter moved to crouch down next to Daniel. "I have some basic first aid knowledge, but what I can remember of a tourniquet sounded like you have to constantly monitor it. Too loose and it's ineffective, too tight and it causes more harm than good." All Carter could recall of that particular lecture was the Doctor's dire warnings about maintaining some blood flow to the affected limb and what could happen if the tourniquet was applied incorrectly. "It's a long trip back, I'm not happy about using one for so long." She wished she had paid more attention to that lecture, but she had been doodling on her pad and thinking about some way to speed up the dialling sequence for the 'gate. At the time that had seemed more important than field first aid.
"Major Carter, the stretcher is now complete."
Spinning round to answer Teal'c, Carter over-balanced slightly and grabbed hold of Daniel's arm to steady herself. Hearing the soft grunt of pain she looked down to see that she had disturbed the bandage over Daniel's lacerated forearm. "Sorry Daniel, I slipped. Are you okay?"
Gritting his teeth Daniel nodded stiffly. Truthfully the initial jolt of pain was already dying down to a dull throb. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"Right, let's get the Colonel onto the stretcher and start back, we should be able to get out of the valley by mid afternoon. And if we hustle we might be able to make the 'gate by early evening." There was some advantage to having a longer planetary day than Earth standard after all. "Teal'c and I'll carry the Colonel and you can clear the path ahead of us, Daniel."
"But…"
Carter cut off Daniel's protests with an impatient gesture towards his bandaged and blood stained arms. "Daniel, you are still bleeding in case you hadn't noticed. We don't need you dropping the Colonel cos you can't hold onto the stretcher or are about to collapse due to exhaustion or blood loss." She sighed irritably, regretting the need to be so blunt. "We don't have the time, the Colonel needs to get back home as soon as possible."
Staring down at the floor Daniel had to admit to himself that what Sam was saying made sense, but it didn't mean he had to like it. Voice harsh with anger he merely grunted his agreement and bent down to pick his pack up. "We better get going then." Stalking out of the room he quickly left the tower and began determinedly scouting out the clearest route back to the Stargate.
. . .
"Break."
Hearing the gasped call behind him, Daniel slowed down and then turned back to join the other two. Although they were finally on the edge of the forested valley, they hadn't made very good time and the light was fading rapidly. Both Teal'c and Carter had set a brutal pace in their eagerness to leave the densely wooded area behind but it had proved difficult in the extreme to manoeuvre the litter between the trees and maintain a steady pace. The constant diverting around larger obstacles and the need to find a wide, clear path had slowed down their progress considerably.
Rubbing her arms tiredly, Carter slowly sank to the ground next to O'Neill's litter, too tired to even carry out the routine monitoring of his condition beyond a quick visual check. Without looking up she accepted the canteen of water that Daniel silently handed to her and took a long gulp of the refreshing liquid. "That man is definitely going on a diet when we get back!"
Snorting with laughter, Daniel then passed the water to Teal'c before digging out some energy bars. "Here, eat these."
"I do not require sustenance at this time." Teal'c's nose didn't quite wrinkle up, but his distaste for the energy bars was plain to hear.
"don't argue…eat it…good for you."
"Jack!" "Colonel!"
O'Neill's tired brown eyes gazed vaguely around before settling somewhat unsteadily on the two figures hovering over him. "what happened?"
Exchanging a quick worried look with Daniel, Carter repeated the information they had told him that morning. "…and now we're taking you back home. Don't worry, Sir, it won't be long now."
"not if you…kill yourself." For a second the confusion and tiredness dropped away, giving them a glimpse of their irascible friend's normal nature. But all too soon the alert expression faded and his eyes started drifting once more. "danny? what happened?"
Leaning closer to hear the weak whisper, Daniel drew back sharply in shock. He turned to Carter unsure of what to say and saw the same stunned expression on her face as well. "Sam, what's wrong with him? We just told him what happened."
Shaking her head sadly she nodded towards O'Neill, "He's out of it again." She paused, "He's just confused, he'll be fine once Janet can look at him. He'll be fine."
"Do not overly concern yourself Daniel Jackson, O'Neill's confusion will be due to blood loss and the effect of the sedative that Major Carter hypothesized." Teal'c's calm assertion had the desired effect and Daniel relaxed his tense muscles, shooting the Jaffa a grateful grin.
"But Jack was right, you have to rest and eat something. We're making good progress and we can afford a short break." Daniel offered Teal'c one of the energy bars and he smiled as the Jaffa took it without protest this time.
"Okay," Carter was reluctant to delay their journey but she knew she needed the break. And once clear of the valley theterrain was level and relatively open and progress would be even quicker. "But we'll need to do another bandage change and this will be the last of the large dressings." Leaning back against a tree she closed her eyes wearily, "And don't forget to check your own as well Daniel."
"Yes mom."
. . .
As he tended to O'Neill's injuries Daniel was dismayed to note that the ragged gash still bled sluggishly, fresh blood welling out even as he attempted to clean the wound site. Sighing heavily at his inability to do anything that he perceived to be helpful for his friend, he reached for the water canteen.
They had replenished their supplies and the full canteen gurgled reassuringly. Now he only had to coax some of the refreshing liquid into the semi-conscious Colonel. It was vital that he maintain his fluid intake; dehydration would be disastrous on top of all his other problems.
Once she had rested enough to control the trembling in her arms and legs, Carter moved over to help Daniel. She was concerned about his injuries as well and the debilitating effect they would have on the younger man. Although not as severe as O'Neill's, they still posed a threat to Daniel if they had been affected by the same alien substance. Briefly she wondered why both her scratches and Teal'c's had scabbed over and stopped bleeding on their own. Thanks to Junior, Teal'c's minor contusions were now healed completely.
Between them they managed to get half a cup of water into O'Neill and although she knew it wasn't enough, Carter was grateful they had managed to achieve that much. Even semi-conscious the Colonel was stubborn.
Rummaging in his pack for his spare T-shirt, Daniel tried to visualise the route ahead of them. Settling back onto his heels with the clothing in his hands he came to an abrupt realisation. "We're not getting out of here tonight, are we?"
"No." Teal'c saw no point in lying about something that was obvious to all of them. "I estimate we will only be halfway to the Stargate before it becomes too dark to travel safely."
"We could use flashlights, I could walk ahead and shine it on the ground to light the way."
"It's too dangerous Daniel. What if we trip and drop the Colonel, or I stumble and twist an ankle." Carter didn't sound particularly happy to be the voice of reason, but she ploughed on. "The Colonel is in a bad way, but we can't risk making it worse."
"I will go on ahead to the Stargate and return to the SGC for help. I will be able to travel much quicker on my own."
Considering Teal'c's suggestion, Carter nodded reluctantly. Given their situation it was most probably the best solution and of all of them Teal'c was the strongest and quickest.
"We detected no dangerous life forms on our passage to this valley, my return journey should be equally uneventful."
"watch out…for the…mouse…"
Startled by O'Neill's breathless whisper, Daniel almost dropped the bandages he was holding. "Jack, how are you feeling?"
Cracking open one eye O'Neill gazed blearily at Daniel and forced out a succinct reply. "crap." Moving one arm in a lazy loop off the ground he loosely indicated around him, "what's happening."
"We're heading back to the 'gate, Sir." Seeing his confused expression, Carter continued with the explanation they had given him every time he had woken up so far. "You were injured. We're going back to the SGC for help. Everyone else is fine."
Some of the tension eased from his face as O'Neill heard the reassuring words and he began to relax back into his half asleep/half unconscious state. Watching her commanding officer as he relapsed into a non-responsive stupor Carter made her mind up. "We'll make camp here, Teal'c you head on back to the 'gate and bring back help. Keep in radio contact and check in every fifteen minutes."
Teal'c quickly made his preparations to leave. Deciding he had no need of a pack, he retrieved his staff weapon from where it had been secured onto O'Neill's litter and then performed a quick check on his radio. Satisfied that everything was as it should be he took a final look at his three team mates. "I will return shortly with help."
"We'll be waiting right here."
. . .
Hopefully they would only be on the planet for another half day, maximum, but both Carter and Daniel realised that they needed to make their camp a little more comfortable. Leaving Daniel to clear the area of the insidious undergrowth, Carter ranged out into the surrounding forest to gather some firewood. The resultant fire cast a warm and cheery glow on their small camp and banished some of the damp chillness that was attendant on the growing dusk. After forcing down some of the MRE's, a task which proved nearly impossible in O'Neill's case, they settled down for the night.
Teal'c had reported in dutifully and passed on the good news that the one three quarters full moon and the other half moon provided enough light for him to safely continue his journey to the 'gate. He anticipated returning to their position with help by mid-day on the following day.
Seeing Carter struggling to stay awake, Daniel offered to take the first watch and promised faithfully that he would wake her up in five hours. With a quiet grumble about the flip side of longer days being longer nights, Carter gave in and settled down near to the fire. Satisfied that Carter was finally getting some rest and that O'Neill was as comfortable as he could be, Daniel finally started attending to his own minor injuries. The shallow scratches would normally be of no consequence and it was only their continued bleeding that worried him. Carefully stripping off the soiled bandages he reached for the water and began to clean his forearms. Frowning in puzzlement at what he saw he placed the canteen carefully on the ground and then held out both forearms and inspected them closely in the flickering firelight.
Twisting them around he confirmed what his initial impression. Although one arm was still covered in long scratches which oozed blood, the other arm was free of fresh blood and a slight sheen covered his skin from elbow to knuckles. The scratches still looked raw, they hadn't scabbed over, but they also no longer bled.
"Sam. Sam!"
Startling awake at the call, Carter groaned and rolled over, every muscle in her body aching with the movement. Looking across the fire she saw Daniel staring intently at his arms, a puzzled frown on his face. "Wha…?"
"You have to see this…Look, it's not bleeding!" He hurried round the fire and sat down on the ground next to her, holding his arms out for inspection.
Pushing herself upright, tiredness forgotten in the face of Daniel's excitement, Carter lent forward to see what had caused such animation in Daniel. He was right, one arm had stopped bleeding although the wounds still looked fresh. Grabbing hold of his outstretched limb she began twisting it around in the light, closely inspecting his scratched forearm.
"Ouch! You know, my arm doesn't normally bend that way."
Abashed, Carter dropped his arm. "Sorry. What is that on your arm? It looks like some sort of coating but I can't feel any residue."
"I don't know." He peered closely at his forearm, "it doesn't feel any different." His brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to think back if anything unusual had happened, but he drew a blank. Suddenly a memory popped into his mind – him kneeling next to O'Neill, Carter at this side and then she went to stand up, lost her balance and grabbed his arm, disturbing the bandage there. The same arm that had now stopped bleeding. "You grabbed me, earlier today, back at the tower. You were falling and you grabbed me."
"But…"
Interrupting Carter's protest, Daniel continued excitedly. "Think back, what had we just been doing?"
Shrugging, she answered his question. "We had just brought the saplings…" Her voice trailed off as she realised the point Daniel was trying to make. "The tree sap, my hands were covered in the resin from the tree."
They looked at each other, wide eyes gleaming in the soft fire light as the possibilities ran through their minds.
Quirking one eyebrow up in a passable impersonation of Teal'c, Daniel affected an expressionless tone. "I feel no ill effects from my exposure to the alien substance."
Giving a soft huff of amusement at his attempt to diffuse the tension, Carter lifted her hands up and inspected them closely. After hours of carrying the make shift litter her palms were blistered and sore, dirt and bark were engrimed deep into her palms and had resisted all of her efforts to clean them. Giving up on her attempt to spot any signs of a resinous residue she turned back to Daniel. As one they both moved over the litter and dragged the contraption closer to the fire.
Carefully peeling back some of the cork-like bark, Carter sliced into the exposed wood and watched as a clear resin exuded slowly from the cut. She made no move to stop Daniel as he tentatively dipped one fingertip in the small drop of viscous fluid, if there was any danger in being exposed to the sap they would have already felt the effects.
With only the smallest amount of hesitation Daniel quickly smeared the resin over one of the bleeding cuts on his arm and then sat back to wait and see what happened.
"How do you feel?" Carter watched him anxiously, on the alert for any sudden adverse reactions.
An almost comical look of relief washed over Daniel's face and eased the small lines of tension etched there. "It feels…good. Cool, like aloe."
"That it? No burning, itching." Carter continued to watch him closely, grinning back in response to Daniel's relieved face.
"None, it feels good. And look, it's spreading out over my arm." In the firelight it was easy to see the slightly glistening coating as it expanded over Daniel's arm. Soon it covered an area as big as his palm, and within that area the bleeding had noticeably slowed. "Weird." Daniel cautiously poked at the affected area, "It seems to be absorbing into the skin, forming a coating over the wound."
"It's acting like the spray on bandage that Janet sometimes uses, but it's much more effective and faster acting as well." She looked happy at the thought that this trip may yield some tangible benefits after all; a natural and self renewing source of a beneficial medical supply would be warmly welcomed by supporters of the Stargate programme.
"Should we try it on Jack? He's already lost a lot of blood and if we can prevent any more blood loss…"
As if on cue O'Neill began muttering restlessly, twisting slightly under the blankets wrapped protectively around him. Indistinct warnings and mumbles about mice and Marines had Carter and Daniel looking at each other quizzically, slight grins tugging at their lips.
"What is he dreaming about?"
Shuddering melodramatically, Daniel soothed the agitated man. "I'm not sure I want to know. Who knows what goes on in Jack's mind?"
Turning her attention to the resinous wood Carter returned to the subject at hand. "Seriously Daniel, how do you feel?"
"I'm fine." Keeping one hand on O'Neill's shoulder in a comforting grip, Daniel waved his other arm around in emphasis. "I've had that stuff on my arm all day with no ill effects, infact now I come to think of it I don't feel as tired or fuzzy as I did." He paused thoughtfully, "I felt kinda spaced out this morning." Again he gave a nonchalant shrug, "I'm sure we would know by now if it was going to have any strange side effects."
Carter nodded absently, mentally calculating how long it would take Teal'c to return to the SGC and bring back help. The chances were that General Hammond wouldn't authorise another team to come through until the morning, as travelling in the dark would be treacherous and risky for all concerned. That meant that help was at least fourteen long hours away. Reaching a decision she used her knife to cut into the exposed wood and carefully collected the resin that oozed forth.
"carter." O'Neill's weak voice startled her, but she was glad to hear that he sounded more alert than previously. "wha…happened?"
"You've been injured." Patiently she started on her explanation once again.
"no." O'Neill still sounded weak, but a definite thread of impatience was clear in the tone. "where's teal'c?"
"Ah! He's gone for help, Sir. He should be back soon." She regurgitated the normal reassuring phrases, intent on unwrapping the bandage from his injured arm. "How do you feel?"
"tired. Very, very tired." His eyes drifted closed as though they were too heavy to keep open. "everything spinning."
"Take a deep breath, Jack." Daniel rubbed O'Neill's shoulder as he coached him through his nauseous spell. He was already weak and dehydrated without making it worse. Maintaining a soothing litany of nonsense words, Daniel watched as Carter cleaned O'Neill's wound as best she could and then carefully applied the resinous substance to the skin around the long, deep gash.
"wha...?"
"Ssh, Sam's just looking at your arm." He added a gentle pat to the shoulder rubbing.
"dammit daniel…I'm not a…kid." The impatience was definitely winning out over the weakness as O'Neill attempted to glare at Daniel.
A faint flush stained Daniel's cheeks as he withdrew his hand, "Sorry."
"where's teal'c?" The vague and disorientated expression was returning to O'Neill's drooping eyes as he gazed around. Before Daniel or Carter could answer his question, O'Neill had once more drifted off into the semi conscious state that he had been in for most of the day.
"What now?"
Carter scrubbed her hand along the ground, trying in vain to remove all traces of the tree resin. "Now we wait for daylight, and we keep an eye on the Colonel."
. . .
"Daa-niel!" The aroma of freshly brewed coffee combined with the trilling wake up call served to drag Daniel from his exhausted slumber.
He had sat with Jack for half of the night, watching his friend's restless movements and listening to the fevered gibberish. By the time he had woken Carter for her watch it was apparent that the resin had performed as hoped, and that Jack's wound had stopped bleeding. That relief was offset slightly by the discovery that the Colonel's temperature was rising as he developed a fever. Carter thought that he was suffering from an infection, but she wasn't sure what had caused it. No matter, they would have O'Neill safely back at the SGC and under Janet's care by the end of the day.
"Urgh, I'm awake." Blindly he groped out for his coffee, unerringly homing in on the much needed stimulant.
"Teal'c's radioed in, the relief team are about ninety minutes away. They came through last night and camped by the 'gate to wait for dawn." Carter reached for the coffee and prepared to top up Daniel's drink. "The Colonel is fine, his fever hasn't got any worse. The bleeding has stopped but the wound looks nasty, I think it'll need stitches when we get back." All in all Carter felt pretty satisfied with the situation, given all the possible outcomes this one was not too bad, not the best but not too bad.
"Good." Daniel was still at the stage were monosyllabic grunts served as his main form of communication. Exerting a mighty effort, he prised his eyelids open and blearily peered around, pushing his glasses further up his nose as he did so.
"We just have time to get packed up and tidied away before SG-16 get here…"
"SG-16, that's the new team with the field medic, right?" Daniel made any effort to string a coherent sentence together, desperately wishing for the luxury of a soothing wake up shower and a leisurely breakfast.
"Uh huh." Carter's was stuffing the medical waste into one of the rubbish sacks as she replied. "Oh and second bush to the left."
"What?" Usually he could follow Carter's leaps, their conversations often confused onlookers with their apparently unconnected changes in subject, but this time he was totally lost.
She looked up and laughed at his confusion, "Men's latrine, second bush to the left."
Sometimes Daniel wondered at the military mindset and their need to prioritise and label everything, but he dutifully wandered off to the indicated bush and left Carter to her organising.
. . .
Teal'c and SG-16 arrived with the promised time frame and after assessing O'Neill's condition the medic, Lieutenant Hormis declared him fit to travel. Fascinated by the resin used to staunch the bleeding he questioned Carter and Daniel intensively on the matter and then ensured that a sample of the resinous timber was included in their supplies.
Relieved from the burden of carrying O'Neill, Carter and Daniel were able to keep up with the fresh and fast moving SG-16 and within three hours the welcome sight of the Stargate hove into view. Taking a final look around the peaceful planet, Carter followed the others through the 'gate and gave thanks that once again they were all returning relatively intact.
. . .
"So, what have you discovered?" Daniel leant against the doorframe of the lab and looked at the two women bent intently over the microscope. He needed a break from translating the writing panels in the towers and he had decided to see how Fraiser and Carter were doing on their own investigation.
Carter and Fraiser straightened up and worked the kinks out of their backs. They had been investigating the ivy for hours and were reasonably sure they understood what had happened.
"Hey Daniel, any luck with the translations?"
"It's coming slowly. I think it was a research station set up to monitor the flora and fauna of the valley. Apparently they were as interested in the flora as we are." He indicated the plant samples ranged on the desk. "How's it going?"
"The ivy has an interesting life cycle." Carter unconsciously slipped into lecture mode. "The small green flowers we saw have only one function and that is to produce the pollen we saw in the air, that must attract insects and animals somehow and it also acts as a sedative. That would explain why we were all tired and listless, we had all breathed in some of the pollen. You and the Colonel both fell into a patch of pollen laden flowers and would have received a bigger dose."
Fraiser joined in with the explanation. "The sap produced on the surface of the ivy leaves is what contains the anti-coagulant agent. The theory is that any animal wandering into the area would become sedated from the airborne pollen, they would then collapse and fall to the ground where they would be scratched by the thorns on the ivy stems. The sap would ensure that the victim's wound would keep on bleeding and provide the ivy with the necessary boost of necessary minerals needed to produce the main fruiting flower…"
"The red one." Daniel was nodding as the explanation progressed.
"Right, the red flowers will eventually produce the seeds to propagate the next generation." Carter absently stroked her finger along the velvety petal of one of the sample flowers.
"But why did it affect Jack so badly? From what we saw there were no large animals in the area so the ivy would be adapted to cope with small animals, surely." Daniel peered into the microscope as he posed his question, wanting to get a close look at the thing that had caused all the trouble. He saw only an innocuous looking spore, certainly it didn't look life threatening.
Fraiser shrugged, "It's hard to say. Different physiologies maybe. And the Colonel cut his arm open on something other than a thorn, so maybe he absorbed more of the pollen and sap through the much larger wound. The larger dose of the sedative and the blood loss would explain the Colonel's state of disorientation and the continued confusion." She reached over to tap the piece of wood lying in a dish, "And this tree resin has very exciting possibilities for future medical uses. It's a very effective coagulant and wound sealant. As the wound heals it seems to absorb into the skin and leaves no traces of itself, and so far I can determine no ill effects from using it."
"Well Jack will be glad that something useful came out of all of this, he really didn't like that planet."
Carter nodded in agreement with his assessment. "The forest really unsettled him. Maybe we should have listened to his instincts." She gave herself a slight shake to dispel the lingering unease. "Are you on your way to see him?"
"Yeah, Teal'c said he seems to be more coherent this morning." Daniel stopped at Fraiser's small snort.
"Oh yeah, the sedative is wearing off big time." Fraiser's nurses were once again avoiding the area of the infirmary currently inhabited by the grumpy Colonel unless they absolutely had to go there. "he's started on his 'aw Doc, I feel fine. When can I go home?' routine. Only the fact that he collapsed when he tried to get out of bed has kept him here."
Daniel grinned at the mental image of O'Neill slumping gracelessly to the floor. "How long are you keeping him?"
"Well, he's had several units of blood so far, hopefully he won't need any more and I have given him some broad spectrum anti-biotics to combat the fever. The cut is healing nicely, if anything it seems to be healing faster than I would have expected given the degree of tissue and muscle damage. I just want to make sure his blood count is back up and that the fever has gone, and then he's all yours. A few days should be enough, for him and my nursing staff!"
. . .
O'Neill carefully cracked one eye open and surveyed the immediate area, it looked clear and with a sigh of relief he opened both eyes fully.
"Ah Colonel, good you're awake. Time for another blood sample." Beaming broadly Nurse Chapman bore down on the hapless Colonel and efficiently took the requested sample. Swabbing gently at the puncture site she patted his arm in a matronly fashion. "You really should try and get some rest Colonel." With that final piece of friendly advice she swirled around and was gone.
"Damn, that woman must be Special Ops trained." Muttering under his breath, O'Neill pushed himself upright, tugging the freshly tucked in blankets loose from around his body. "I never hear her coming."
"She is indeed most stealthy in her approach." Teal'c rumbled the comment approvingly as he watched the light footed nurse retreat.
Jumping as a second person succeeded in sneaking up on him, O'Neill directed a glare towards his Jaffa friend. "Geez Teal'c, make some noise when you approach will ya?" He fussily rearranged the IV lines that ran into his uninjured arm so they wouldn't tangle in the blanket, he knew from experience just how painful it was to snag your IV port and accidentally pull it out.
"Hi Jack!" Daniel's cheery greeting rang out from the doorway and Jack grinned in welcome.
"At last, someone who has the decency to warn you of their arrival." He scowled suspicioulsy at the small bunch of red flowers that Daniel held and then studiously ignored them. "Have you come to break me out?"
Looking around for something to put the flowers in, Daniel absently answered O'Neill. "Um, Janet says another two days if all your tests come back ok." Finally spotting a glass bottle, Daniel dumped the flowers in it and then poured some of Jack's drinking water into it as well. "There, that's better, much more cheery." Ignoring Jack's renewed scowl he started patting down his pockets as though searching for something. "I got these for you, you seemed so adamant on the planet…where are they…ah!" Triumphantly he held his prize out towards Jack, "Although I don't quite understand the significance of them…"
Daniel was already retreating to the doorway as O'Neill cautiously opened the small bag. "Daaa-niel!" He looked up to see his friends leave the room, muffled laughter drifting after them. Groaning to himself as he wondered just what it was that he had said while he had been delirious, O'Neill shrugged and popped one of the chocolate mice into his mouth. No doubt he would find out in the following days.
The End