This is Part III of The Host series. Started with Run, continued in Something of the Host Remains.
Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support. It has really helped (especially considering it was originally going to end after Part I.
Please read and review!
"Dead sir. I think they're all dead." General George Hammond heard Major Carter's words, but they did not register. "What? What do you mean?" he asked.
"Teal'c, Colonel O'Neill, and Daniel, sir. I saw them all die," Maj. Carter continued, gasping in pain. "The Colonel – he told me to run sir. He told me to make it back to Earth and tell you. I'm sorry sir…" Carter's voice disappeared as tears filled her eyes. Gen. Hammond did not know what she was apologizing for. Surviving? Making it home safely? Not being able to prevent whatever had befallen the rest of SG1?
Dr. Fraiser appeared at Gen. Hammond's side. She approached her patient gently, "Sam, I need to take you to the infirmary now."
"NO!" Sam yelled. "I have to – I have to tell the General – Daniel…" Struggling to get her thoughts in order, Carter stepped back from the doctor and shook her arms free of the general.
Hammond could see that Carter was whey-faced and shaking from fatigue. Her eyes were glassy from shock. Hammond stepped forward and took her arms again, "It's all right, Major. I'll come down with you."
Carter clutched at the General's hands. "Daniel…" she forced out. "Daniel was taken as Apophis's new host. That's why Col. O'Neil had to kill him." Hammond heard Dr. Fraiser's horrified gasp.
"Dr. Fraiser, please take the major down to the infirmary. I'll be right behind you. Samantha, don't say another word until I get down there." Hammond watched the young major be escorted away while he pondered his next action.
Oooooooooooooooooooooo
Once he arrived in the infirmary, Hammond ordered out every non-essential person from the room. Luckily there were no other patients in the medical ward. Once it was just he, Dr. Fraiser and Major Carter, he started to speak. "Dr. Fraiser, if you have to stay here to monitor the major's condition, you may. However I need your word that nothing that is said in this room will go any further."
"Of course not sir."
"Maj. Carter," Hammond began. "I need you to tell me everything that has happened. This is not an official debriefing. However, I need you to tell me every detail, no matter how insignificant you may think it is."
Cater looked at the General long and hard. Even in her distress, she could tell there was something…different…going on. Unsure what it might be, she began her story.
Carter talked about entering P3X-1510. She described how peaceful everything felt there. "We thought we were alone sir. I just don't know how the Goa'uld managed to hide themselves from us." She went on to describe how they were taken, the gliders, the shock grenade, waking as Apophis's prisoners. "And then he said that he was going to take Daniel's as his new host. It was for revenge, sir. For his child. For Sha're. And he wanted to get at all the information in Daniel's head. And he did," Carter tried to swallow past her rising grief. "We watched while the symbiote ripped into Daniel. Daniel tried to fight, sir. But…it didn't make any difference…it hurt him so bad…"
"Easy major, take you time. Just tell me what happened next," Hammond waited quietly as Carter calmed herself. The painkillers the doctor had administered were taking affect, helping the grieving major tell her story. Hammond knew that rushing her would accomplish nothing.
Carter continued. She told of how the new Apophis was attacked by Teal'c, who was then executed for his efforts. "That's when we found out they had a sarcophagus." At her words, Hammond's heart stopped. He needed Daniel/Apophis to be dead, otherwise…otherwise…
Oblivious to the general's new fears, Carter continued. She revealed O'Neill's promise to Daniel, to never let him remain trapped as a Goa'uld host. "He told me to run, General Hammond. Col. O'Neill told me that he had to stay behind and 'free' Daniel. That he had made a promise…" Once more, Carter's voice trailed off to a whisper. "And that's what he tried to do. Apophis reemerged. He had been healed. He tried to torture the Colonel into giving him information. It seems that Apophis had not been able to get everything from Daniel. But the Colonel resisted." A pained smile winced across Carter's face as she remembered the Colonel's bravery. "He attacked the Jaffe and threw himself at Daniel. I broke free and headed to run out of the room. I heard staff shots…when I looked back, Daniel was on his back – with a knife in his throat – there was so much blood…Colonel O'Neill was on the ground as well. He had been hit by several staff weapons…how he wasn't dead yet, I'll never know." Tears were flowing freely down Carter's face and Hammond could see that Dr. Fraiser was also weeping. "Col. O'Neill looked at me…and he said 'Run.' And I ran sir. I ran away. The last thing I saw was the Colonel close his eyes - and die."
Hammond stood. He paced around the infirmary for a moment before stopping in front of the devastated Maj. Carter. "Maj. Carter, I want to commend you for doing your duty. You followed the orders of your superior officer even when it went directly against what you wanted to do. Thanks to your actions and your bravery, we are aware of the new threat. A threat that might bear our face. You are sure that there was a sarcophagus in the compound? One that you saw in action?"
"Yes, sir. I know they managed to use it once. I don't know if the Jaffa were able to get Apophis in it a second time, or what affect it might have had. Col. O'Neill did a very thorough job."
"All right then. Dr. Fraiser, please see that Maj. Carter is taken care of tonight. Give her something so that she can sleep. She will need her rest." Hammond placed his hand on top of Carter's head, willing her to get healing sleep. She would need to be on her feet very soon. Then he walked out of the infirmary. There were many things that had to be taken care of. All of them needed to be done immediately. And he had no clear idea of what path to take.
Hammond walked into his office, closed the door and pulled the blinds. He took a moment of silence and prayed for guidance for his next actions. Then he reached for the folder he never wanted to need. It was a simple manila folder, sealed with bright red tape. The words "Top Secret" were right above the word "Scorpion." Hammond reached for his letter opener and slit the tape.
He did not need to read the information in the folder. He knew what it said. He had been in the meeting where this abhorrent policy had been generated and he had been the loudest to protest the philosophies behind this decision. Despite himself, he read:
"If ever a Stargate Command officer or employee (hereafter referred to as 'staffer'), of any rank or standing, is implanted by a Goa'uld symbiote who has raking of 'System Lord,' said Stargate Command staffer is be captured and returned to Earth for further study and interrogation. Said staffer is not to be terminated or harmed in anyway if avoidable. The ranking officer of Stargate Command is herein charged with notifying the Joint Chiefs if ever such an occurrence takes place."
Hammond read this sentence over and over. He imagined Daniel Jackson being forced to submit to the pain of implantation. He imagined turning over Apophis's new host to the Joint Chiefs and God knew who else for study. And he imagined Jack O'Neill's reaction at the idea that a close friend and member of his team was turned into a lab rat for the country that they had all fought so hard to serve and protect. If any part of Daniel had survived the implantation…if the Jaffa had revived him in the sarcophagus…would Hammond's next action place the former archeologist on an examination table somewhere in the basement of the NID?
He did not know what to do. Either he betrayed the people who depended on him , or he betrayed the oaths he had long ago taken to obey the leaders of his country. But what if the leaders were wrong? Hammond stared at the words in front of him. After a long time, he reached for the phone.
TBC