As bright light enveloped him and he reappeared in Atlantis' conference room, Steven Caldwell exulted in the knowledge that his nightmare was almost over. No matter how this turned out, he would finally be free. After weeks of battling the goa'uld, he had retreated into a corner of his mind and waited, conserving his energy. He hoped for just one chance, and he wanted to be ready when it came.

The parasite used his body and his voice to express outrage at the thought of working for the trust. Caldwell knew they had figured it out; he depended on them being smart enough to do so. He had done everything he could to convince the goa'uld that using his identification code was the only way to copy the information and return it. He knew deleting the trail wouldn't stop it from being discovered, and he had protected that knowledge with misdirection and outright deception.

Weir's words infuriated the damn snake in his head, and Steven could feel that strange rush along his optic nerves that he knew would manifest as glowing eyes. Sheppard raised his Glock and pointed it directly at Caldwell. If Steven could have smiled, he would have. He knew Atlantis' military commander had the balls to pull the trigger and would if he had to. Caldwell taunted the goa'uld with that particular bit of knowledge. It was going to die; there would be no escape.

It was enraged and snarled a challenge, picking a fight with Ronon who punched Caldwell and threw him across the room. As Steven struggled to stand, he saw Sheppard fire. It wasn't until the electrodes hit him in the chest did he realize the pilot had switched guns.

His body convulsed as the taser's fifty thousand volts flood through him. He felt the goa'uld weaken and willed Sheppard to do it again. As the electricity coursed through his body a second time, he felt the goa'uld's control slip.

It was the moment Caldwell had been waiting for. He gathered every bit of strength and tried to make his voice work.

'Sheppard?'

He did it! He had no idea what the pilot said to him after that but assumed he asked for the access code. Steven babbled it as quickly as he could. He could feel the parasite regaining its strength. Sheppard whipped out a notebook and began scribbling it down. Caldwell was losing control again. He looked at Ronon.

"Kill me, please."

The last thing he saw was the Satedan's blaster and a red flash.

OoOoOoOoO

His headache was the size of the Grand Canyon. And what was that annoying beeping sound? Caldwell attempted to shake the cobwebs from his mind and only succeeded in increasing the knife-in-the-head feeling. He lay quietly, trying not to make it worse when he suddenly realized that knife was the only thing he had in his head. His eyes flew open to find his CMO and Elizabeth Weir smiling down at him.

"What happened?"

The doctor began checking his vitals. "Hermiod figured out a way to extract the goa'uld using beaming technology. I'll need to run you through a series of neurological tests to be sure there are no residual effects."

"Where is it?"

"The goa'uld? It seems Hermiod accidentally beamed it into space. Oops."

Caldwell caught the grin Weir was trying to hide. "Oops, indeed. Sorry to hear it."

"How are you feeling, Steven?"

He closed his eyes and smiled. "Free."

The End.