Disclaimer: See first chapter for disclaimer.
Voices Calling – Part 3
The sole thing keeping insanity at bay for Carter was the simple fact that she was really going to have to pee sometime in the immediate future. This was complicated by the even simpler fact that there wasn't a bathroom, private or otherwise, in sight.
Normally, privacy wasn't a big issue for Sam; she was, after all, a member of a close-knit team, and privacy was often a luxury they could ill-afford. But for some reason urinating in the presence of the guys when all of them were so tightly packed in such a cramped space seemed, well, wrong somehow. It would feel as if she were polluting all of their personal spaces.
With that thought, Carter involuntarily wrinkled her nose at the acrid smell coming from the general direction of the Colonel's previously discarded stomach contents. That aroma was bad enough. She wasn't going to contribute more foulness to an already foul situation if she could help it.
Sighing, Sam shifted as well as she could to try to ease the pressure off her over-taxed bladder. She was a Major in the United States Air Force, and she refused to become undone by the need to urinate. She could hold it for a little while longer.
Course of action determined, Sam allowed her thoughts to stray into dangerous territory.
Four hours ago, the sphere had come and had dragged Jack's unconscious body out of the room yet again. And although Jack had been returned after only an hour in the latest chapter of their incursion through this nightmare, he had not regained consciousness since that time. In fact, the Colonel had not uttered a word or even twitched a muscle. If it were not for the faint, thready pulse beating at the man's throat, Carter would have believed him dead.
Sam shuddered with the thought and looked up at her teammates in an effort to alleviate her feelings of impotence. She could not tolerate this inability to do anything that would help the situation for much longer. If she could just take action or even conceive of some kind of plan that would at least give them the smallest hope of escape, she could handle this all better. But these were other luxuries not afforded to her, and instead she sought out comfort from the two conscious members of her team.
Sam studied the two men who shared the burden of powerlessness with her. Daniel was practically catatonic in his fear for Jack, and he focused all of his energies on protecting his friend from further harm despite his keen awareness that nothing he could say or do would help. Sam knew exactly how the man felt, but despite her sibling-like affection for Daniel, she could not bring herself to distract his attentions from Jack by offering him what she knew would be only hollow support.
Instead, she looked to Teal'c whose tranquil stillness had always been a source of comfort during past trials. But she could see cracks of anxiety appearing through the steady Jaffa's normally peaceful disposition, and that was when the first feelings of despair hit her hard. If Teal'c harbored doubts, then how would they ever get out of this box? How would they save Jack when he was so obviously in desperate need of immediate medical attention? How would anything ever be all right again? What were they going to….
"Carter…"
It was the slightest of whispers, but that sound coming from her Colonel's mouth was enough to distract her from her hazardous thoughts.
"Sir!" she exclaimed, surprised.
"Jack!" the surprise in Daniel's voice mimicked her own, and she smiled at the archaeologist briefly before returning her attention back to the incapacitated Colonel.
"We're going to make it out of here," Jack gasped in a resolved whisper.
Carter felt a surge of pride at the determination that shone in the man's eyes, and she was suddenly reminded of their unplanned detour to Antarctica. That situation had seemed hopeless as well, and yet both she and the Colonel had survived it. This one would be no different.
"Yes, Sir," she consented with deliberate confidence.
Jack managed to curl the corners of his mouth in a poor imitation of a smile before he continued to speak.
"What happened?"
"You were taken away again by that metal sphere," Daniel explained. "It brought you back an hour later, and you've been unconscious until now."
"Ah," was the Colonel's only response. He slowly closed his eyes, but Carter's urgent voice caused him to snap them open again.
"Sir, we really need to know what's happening to you. Do you remember what they did?"
The Colonel's gaze suddenly became evasive as he mumbled a guarded, "It's a bit fuzzy," to Carter's question.
"Can you tell us about it, Sir? Before, when you were delirious you mentioned that there was some sort of machine. Can you describe it?"
"I'd rather not, Carter," Jack whispered with a grimace as he closed his eyes again.
Sam grabbed his upper arm to regain the man's attention. She was rewarded with an irritated look from her stubborn commanding officer that was quickly lost when Jack suddenly averted his eyes again.
"Sir, we really need to know what we're up against if we're going to help you."
"I'm fine, Carter. Just leave it alone. Instead of wasting that million dollar brain of yours on meaningless stuff, why don't you figure out a way to get us out of here!" Jack's tone was scathing, and Sam reacted to it almost as if he had punched her in her stomach.
"Sir…" she began, but was interrupted by Daniel as he held up a hand and gave her a warning look over the top of Jack's head. Obviously the perceptive man had noticed something going on with his friend that she had missed. Still stinging from the Colonel's previous remark, Sam was more then willing to let Daniel take a turn.
"That's just it, Jack," Daniel began soothingly. "We don't have enough information to come up with a plan. And since you're the only one who has been out of this box, you're the only one who can shed any light on our situation. Any information you have could help get us out of here."
And you know that, Daniel thought worriedly to the sick man. What had happened to Jack to make him so reluctant to debrief them on their options? Daniel just hoped that by emphasizing the need for those under his command to escape, Jack would be more apt to relinquish information regarding his current physical condition.
"Indeed, O'Neill. DanielJackson is correct," Teal'c's resonant voice caused Daniel to respond with an inward sigh of relief.
Teal'c tended to be Jack's final voice of reason. If Jack were having any doubts, then the Jaffa's support of Daniel's position on the subject would surely sway the Colonel.
Jack opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but then abruptly closed it with an audible click of his teeth. Daniel felt a fresh surge of frustration as he realized that Jack wasn't going to give up any information regardless of the state of his team.
"Jack," he exasperatedly began to speak, but this time he was the one interrupted.
"Daniel, wait," Sam said as she studiously watched her commanding officer. Confused, Daniel looked down at Jack, and saw that the man seemed to be listening to something.
Sam hesitatingly placed a hand on Jack's shoulder in an attempt to draw his attention back to her.
"Sir?" she questioned.
Jack's head wobbled a bit on his neck as he returned his gaze to his Second. The faintest smile touched the stricken man's face, and his eyes shone brightly in their sockets.
"I understand now," he said right before blood started gushing from his nose again.
oOo
In another small cell, not far from where SG-1 was currently crushed together, a solitary young woman sat rocking her slight form in an attempt to offer herself some aura of comfort. Her arms were wrapped around her bent legs, and her head rested on her knees while one hand furiously twirled her long, black hair. She sighed purposefully and closed her eyes, but still maintained her rocking. Unconsciously, she stopped twirling her hair and thrust the end of one of the long strands into her mouth where she reflexively chewed on it.
After a while, her rocking ceased, and she opened her eyes. Angrily, she kicked out at the cell wall and uttered a discouraged sound. Realizing where her hair was, she spat it out of her mouth with disgust. Chewing on her hair was a nervous habit she had demonstrated when she was a small child. She had broken the habit during early adolescence, but she supposed its return was understandable given her circumstances.
Although, she thought wistfully, her mother would probably proclaim that no circumstances warranted the re-emergence of such a tawdry habit. The young woman huffed in amusement as the memory surfaced of the impatient look that used to appear on her mother's face every time she had given in to her impulses.
"Darlin', you have just got to control yourself, or you simply will not have any hair left," her mother would say in her charming Southern drawl. The young woman supposed that onlookers would have found her mother's words harsh, but the woman had always softened them by gently plucking the tresses from her young daughter's mouth. Afterwards, her mother would chuckle and then draw her peculiar, but lovable child into a warm embrace.
The girl suddenly wished that her mother were here to soften the frustration she felt at the reappearance of her tacky habit and to draw her into an embrace that would protect her from this strange place.
Although, the girl supposed that she could do without the inevitable "I told you so," that would surely accompany the woman if she somehow miraculously appeared. Her mother always claimed that her daughter's strong personality traits and outspoken nature would land her in trouble one day, and boy, she mustn't have been kidding.
Sudden homesickness overwhelmed her, and the young woman had to concentrate on not giving in to tears. She had a feeling that if she started crying right now, she might never be able to stop. And, well, that just wouldn't do.
Another of her mother's claims had been that, in spite of all her peculiarities, her daughter was a rather practical kid. Grudgingly, the young woman knew her mother was right, although she would never admit it to her face. In fact, her mother was always right, but it wouldn't do to speak of it out loud. The woman would never let her hear the end of it!
Regardless, this practical kid needed to find a way out of here, and her only current hope lay in an errant Air Force Colonel who absolutely refused to hear her.
"God damn it, Colonel! I don't belong here!" She yelled the words loudly and relished their echo. Shouting was a release, a comfort. She gripped the ends of her hair again and looked down at their tattered state. She groaned to herself. "Colonel! Get me out of here right now, do you hear me, you stubborn jerk!" This time the words were directed inward, but they were still shouted.
"I'm getting split ends here, for cryin' out loud!"
oOo
Jack impatiently batted Sam and Daniel's hands away.
"Cut it…out!" he groaned. "I'm alright."
"Jack, maybe you haven't noticed, but there's blood pouring out of your nose."
"Huh?"
"Sir, you have a pretty bad nosebleed," Carter confirmed.
Jack brought a hand up to his nose, and felt the slick fluid slide between his fingers. "Oh," he said dumbly. "Well, just…" but he cut his words off and cocked his head again as if listening to someone.
"Sir?" Carter glanced up to Daniel as she lost the battle for the Colonel's concentration again.
"What's going on, Sam?" Daniel asked worriedly.
"I don't know, Daniel. He keeps fazing in and—" Carter was interrupted by a low groan from the Colonel.
She returned her attention to him and was shocked by the waxy pallor of the man's face. Blood, contrasting starkly with O'Neill's pale skin, continued to flow heavily from his nose.
"Colonel?" she asked concerned.
Jack ignored her. "Teal'c!" he gasped. "Teal'c, there's a girl. Her name's—" Jack squinted in concentration as if he were trying to remember something long forgotten. "Lucy…her name's Lucy. You need to go get her."
Daniel's eyes frantically moved back and forth from Jack to Teal'c.
"Jack, what are you talking about? What girl? And how's Teal'c supposed to get to her if he can't go through that force shield?"
Jack pointedly ignored Daniel and turned his full attention to his Jaffa friend. "Teal'c…she's in a cell just below ours. She's—" Jack again interrupted himself and began muttering incomprehensibly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, not a girl. I got it," he paused and closed his eyes in pain as the blood began to flow from his nose at a more disturbing rate. "Nineteen is girl in my book," he muttered.
Sam looked up at Daniel with dread in her eyes. She didn't have to verbalize her thoughts to Daniel, because he shared them. Whatever this was, it wasn't good.
"Trust me, Teal'c. Just trust me. And you'll need to take Car…Carter with you. Daniel st…stay here…with me," Jack gave one last painful groan, and then his body became lax as he again gave in to unconsciousness.
Sam eyed the Jaffa apprehensively. "What do you think, Teal'c?"
The big man bowed his head and paused to consider O'Neill's words. Once he lifted his face, Sam could see that his eyes burned with determination. "I trust O'Neill," he said gravely. And then, without a second's hesitation, he moved forward into the force shield.
oOo
Lucy allowed herself to relax. He had heard her! Finally, the dense lout had heard her! She smiled and concentrated on the Colonel again and was alarmed to sense nothing of him.
'Wha?'
Lucy narrowed her eyes in deeper concentration, and the end of her hair managed to make its way back into her mouth. She chewed it convulsively, and only stopped moments later when she sensed the faintest indication of the Colonel's presence. He must have lapsed into unconsciousness again, but he was still alive. She smiled and, disgusted with herself, spit her hair out of her mouth. If she ever saw her mother again, she was really going to hear about the hair.
But hopefully the Colonel had been able to talk to the others. Hopefully Teal'c was on his way right now. Oh please, oh please. She so needed out of this place.
She was still learning about Colonel O'Neill, but what little she knew of him she genuinely liked. And she grasped enough to know that he was a strong-willed, stubborn son of a bitch, and that the odds were in her favor that he had gotten her message through to the others despite his weakness. He deserved to be spared from the pain she vaguely sensed he was feeling, at least for a little while. Besides, he was going to have to conserve his energy if they were all going to get out of this place.
"Rest, Jack. Just rest," she mumbled affectionately to him despite his absence.
oOo
Teal'c heard his teammates' warnings change to expressions of surprise as he closed his eyes and edged his way through the force shield without incident. Somewhat astonished himself, the Jaffa stood and quickly turned around to face the others still held captive within the cell.
"Okay, what just happened?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know," Sam responded and realized that she had been saying that a lot lately.
"O'Neill was correct in his assessment of the force shield MajorCarter," Teal'c answered simply. "I suggest we follow the remainder of his instructions and find the girl, Lucy."
Carter eyed the spot where she knew an invisible force shield was supposed to be activated.
"Uh, yeah, alright," she said uneasily, remembering the clout the Colonel had taken when he had attempted to thwart the field's energy those many hours ago. "Daniel, do as the Colonel said and stay here while Teal'c and I go scout around a bit. We'll keep in contact via radio, okay?"
"Ah, Sam, I don't know about this. What if Teal'c was able to pass through the force shield because he's a Jaffa? Maybe you won't be strong enough to handle the effects of that thing."
"I felt no ill effects from the shield, DanielJackson," Teal'c called helpfully from his position outside the cell.
"Well, we know it's not his infant Goa'uld helping him out, Daniel, because he doesn't have his anymore, right?"
"Right," Daniel conceded. "But…."
"Daniel, if this doesn't work, then, well, the worst that's going to happen is that I get a little beauty sleep," Sam said with a smile. "And quite frankly, I could use some," she muttered.
Daniel smiled in response to her quirkiness, and nodded his support. "Okay, Sam. I'll look after Jack."
"Good. Here goes nothing," she said. Grabbing her P-90 and taking a deep breath, she crawled through the force shield without incident.
"Thank god," Daniel mumbled with relief.
"Holy Hannah," Sam muttered to herself while standing and stretching her aching back muscles.
Standing now outside of the cell, she had a better idea of just how small the room was. It was plenty small. Miniscule, in fact. Looking up to Teal'c, she wondered how the big man had handled being confined in that modest space.
"Sam, maybe we should at least get Jack out of this cell while we can. Obviously the force shield isn't working right now. Why take our chances keeping him in here?"
Sam nodded her agreement, and motioned Daniel to move through the cell entryway. Once he had made it through to the hallway, both of them reached in and pulled Jack towards them. When the Colonel's body neared the area where the force shield had been, Jack groaned and Sam looked down at him in concern. While studying his strained face, she noticed with alarm that the outer hairs on Jack's head had begun to stand up as if exposed to a strong static charge. She stopped pulling immediately.
"Wait, wait, wait!" she cried in a panicky voice.
Daniel pulled his hands up and off of Jack in alarm. "What? What's happening?"
"Something's going on with the force shield. Look at the Colonel's hair."
Daniel looked in the direction she indicated and also noted that his hands were still hovering harmlessly in the space where the force shield lay. "I don't get it," he said. "It still doesn't seem to be affecting us."
We don't have time for this, Sam thought as she looked anxiously down the corridor. "Alright, alright," she took a moment to struggle against her emotions and tried to calmly consider the events of the past few hours. "Something strange is obviously going on here, and it seems like the Colonel is working off information that we don't have. I think we should stick to his plan for now. Teal'c and I will try to find this girl he was talking about, and if she's not here then we'll all try to make our way out of here together."
She watched as Daniel also struggled with his emotions and came to the same conclusion that she had.
"Okay, Sam. I'll stay and keep an eye on Jack." he said apprehensively.
"It's okay, Daniel. Just stay on the radio, and let us know the moment the Colonel's condition changes. We'll be back as soon as possible."
"Okay, Sam," Daniel repeated. Slowly he eased his aching body back into the cramped space. Scooping Jack away from the force shield he held back a moan as his back muscles angrily protested the movement. "Just make it quick," he muttered to the retreating forms of his teammates.
oOo
Having been given a few precious minutes to stand and move without restraint, Daniel looked back longingly at the spacious ceiling of the hallway from the confines of the cell. Joining the SGC seven years ago had definitely complicated his life, but in some ways it had simplified it as well. When in his pre-SG-1 existence had he ever felt that a situation would be improved exponentially by the simple act of standing!
The beleaguered man sighed heavily, and forced his thinking in optimistic directions. At least he had room to stretch his legs now that Sam and Teal'c were out and on the prowl. And the fact that Sam and Teal'c were able to scout about was also just cause for optimism. If he really thought about it, the entire state of affairs had improved ten-fold.
But none of it eased the aching pull pounding through his lower back muscles.
Grimacing and reaching around to support his back, Daniel leaned over Jack and attempted to clean up the unconscious man's face. The nosebleed had finally stopped, but it had left a crimson mess in its wake.
While he worked, Daniel began talking to himself about the puzzle of their current situation in an effort to make sense of it. The cadence of the archaeologist's self-questioning and considerations caught up with the tattered remnants of Jack's consciousness and caused the man to stir and slowly crack open his heavy-lidded eyes.
"Daniel…you're…babbling," Jack's tongue felt thick and heavy as he tried to move past the lingering fuzziness of unconsciousness.
"Jack!" Daniel ended his ministrations and shifted so that his friend could see him better.
"Daniel, what's…going on?" O'Neill asked haltingly.
"I was just about to ask you that," the archaeologist replied with a hint of apprehension.
Jack blinked once and managed to focus his attention. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked thickly.
"Jack, what exactly is going on with you? You've been rambling incoherently about some girl, and you've yet to tell us about that machine which is doing…well, whatever it's doing to you."
In his exasperation, Daniel was talking loudly and Jack winced at the younger man's tone.
O'Neill blinked again and studied his friend carefully. Daniel was looking pretty rough, and his whole body language spoke of a twitchiness that the archaeologist only demonstrated when he was under great duress.
"Daniel, it's going to be okay," Jack said as he tried unsuccessfully to lift himself to a sitting position.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?!" Seeing the Colonel's weakness, Daniel helped the sick man sit up and gentled his tone. "Jack, it's not okay. You're not okay. Listen, we can't go anywhere for a while, at least not until Sam and Teal'c get back. Why don't you tell me what's going on while we wait?"
"Huh? Back up a minute. What do you mean 'until Sam and Teal'c get back?' Where did they go?"
"Jack, you sent them off to find some girl. Don't you remember? They've been gone for about fifteen minutes now."
Jack's face was the picture of concentration as he tried to get a handle on recent events. "Lucy," he whispered almost to himself.
"Yes! Lucy. You said her name before. Who is she?"
"I'm not sure, Daniel. Things are pretty wonky for me right now," Jack admitted as he drew in a long shaky breath and dropped his face into his hands. After a moment; however, he lifted his head and narrowed his eyes. "She's a college student," he said on an outward breath. "Huh. I don't know what she studies, but given my poor odds it's probably some science. Carter'll love her," Jack mumbled and leaned his head back until it thumped dully against the metal walls.
"Jack, how do you know her? Did you meet her when that sphere took you away? And…wait a minute. You said she's a college student? Jack, are you telling me that this girl's from Earth?!"
"Yeah, I think so. Kind of makes things a little more complicated, doesn't it?" Jack said with some of his characteristic humor lacing his tone.
"How is this possible?"
"I don't know, Daniel. But she is human, she's young, and she's scared out of her mind. We'll know more when Carter and Teal'c get to her."
"Alright, Jack," Daniel soothed as his friend became agitated. "They'll get to her, don't worry. In the meantime, why don't you tell me what's been happening when that thing takes you out of here?"
In an uncharacteristically self-conscious maneuver, Jack began fingering the bottom edge of his shirt. Abruptly casting his gaze downward, the Air Force Colonel seemed intent on avoiding eye contact with Daniel. "Like I said, Daniel, it's fuzzy. I don't remember much."
"That's okay. I just need to have some idea about what's been going on," Daniel insisted.
Jack shrugged painfully and appeared to consider his words carefully before speaking further. "I know it sounds crazy, Daniel, but I think Niirti has a hand in all of this."
"Niirti? I thought she was dead."
"Well, you know how resilient those Goa'uld are, Daniel," Jack said cynically as his hands continued to tug at the bottom of his shirt.
"Yeah, but what makes you think this has something to do with her?"
"You read the mission report of our trip to P3X-367 right?" Jack closed his eyes after noting Daniel's nod. "And you remember that machine Niirti used on Carter?"
"Yeah, Sam said it was painful."
"Well, she wasn't exaggerating."
Concerned now, Daniel squinted at his friend. "Jack, what are you talking about?"
"I got a glance at the machine on -367, and this one looks amazingly similar to it. Hurts like hell, too," the admission to pain was mumbled, but Daniel caught it.
Reeling from the information and yet not being able to make any sense of it, Daniel forced his thoughts to slow.
"Jack, did you actually see Niirti?" the archaeologist asked after a moment.
"No, I don't remember seeing anyone. I always wake up in the machine because, well…just…well…because," the Colonel finished lamely.
Daniel closed his eyes as he imagined pain so terrible that it could knock a person right back into consciousness. It was then that a dangerous thought occurred to him. "Jack, Sam was exposed to Niirti's machine only once, and you guys came pretty close to losing her."
"What's your point, Daniel?" Jack growled and reopened his eyes. He knew the point, but he didn't want to linger on that time in their lives when he had been helpless to do anything to prevent his team from getting hurt.
"Jack, you've been in that thing three times."
"Yes, Daniel. I know that, and there's nothing we can do about it now. Let's focus on getting out of this mess first, and we'll worry about me later."
"But Jack…"
"Daniel, let it be. I'm too tired to let this part of our discussion go any further."
The archaeologist opened his mouth to protest but then abruptly closed it. If Jack felt so poorly that he actually admitted to being tired, then Daniel would honor the sick man's request.
"Alright, Jack. Okay," he conceded.
Silence reigned for a few minutes, and Jack fell into a light doze. A vague thought plagued Daniel for a little while, and he concentrated on identifying it. Something about Jack's account wasn't quite right. He contemplated the events until the contradiction in the story hit him like a bolt of lightening.
"Jack!" Daniel yelled into the quiet room.
Jack visibly jumped and groaned as his aching muscles protested the hasty movement.
"For cryin' out loud, Daniel! What?" he groused.
"Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking. If you didn't actually meet anyone when you left this cell, how do you know about Lucy?"
The Colonel looked puzzled for a moment and began fidgeting with his shirt again.
"I don't know, Daniel. I just know that she's…." Jack didn't finish the sentence. Instead, he clutched at his head, and Daniel saw with alarm that blood had again appeared in an awful gush from the older man's nose.
"Christ," Jack moaned. His body slumped carelessly as he continued to ramble on in a tone that one would use to quiet a small and frightened child. "Shh, shh, shh. Yes, I know. It's all going to be okay. Just take it easy on me, will you?" Jack suddenly raised his gaze to Daniel and smiled slightly. "Carter and Teal'c found Lucy," he whispered just before his eyes rolled back into his head, and his mind again became enveloped in darkness.
oOo
