Chapter Four
"Something has been bothering me about Dr. Jackson's X-ray. At first I didn't really worry about it, because I thought the MRI would give me a better picture. When we couldn't get one I went back to the X-ray."
"And?" Jack asked when she didn't continue.
"I can't be really sure, X-rays aren't meant to show soft tissue, and my judgment could be clouded by the fact that I think I'm supposed to find something."
"Doc, spit it out."
"Right."
Dr. Brightman pulled an X-ray out of its manila envelope and snapped it into the clip on the light box. After looking at the ghost like X-ray for a moment Jack looked to Teal'c and Sam to see if they saw something he didn't. Teal'c had raised one eye brow, but Jack had learned over the years that that could mean any number of things. Sam looked interested, but not shocked.
"Alright, I give...what am I supposed to be looking at." Jack shrugged.
Dr. Brightman ran her finger nail over a few places that held thin spider web like lines, they didn't really stand out, but they were visible. To Jack's untrained eye they looked like blood vessels.
"These are nerves, specifically the 12 cranial nerves."
"Those shouldn't appear on an X-ray, should they?" Sam asked.
"No, they shouldn't, at least not so clearly. I dismissed them at first as just 'noise', but when I studied it closer I found the pattern that revealed them as nerves."
"What does it mean?" Jack asked.
"I'm not really sure." Dr. Brightman admitted. "My first thought was that it was being caused by radioactivity. But I tested Dr. Jackson and he isn't giving off any. I really need an MRI to see exactly what we're looking at, but computer is still down."
"Is there another substance that would cause such an anomaly?" Teal'c asked.
"One other thought crossed my mind, but it doesn't make any sense."
"Try us," Jack flashed a tight smile "if it's one thing we've learned it's that things don't always have to make sense. Particularly when Daniel is involved."
"Well, metal shows up very well on an X-ray. But Dr. Jackson's blood tests didn't show any signs of heavy metals. I can't imagine how his nervous system could become infused with metal without also contaminating his blood. Not to mention that if this quantity of metal actually was in his system he'd be insane, or more likely dead."
"Unless..." Sam said but stopped.
"Unless what?" Jack pressed.
"What if the metal was intelligent?"
"Intelligent?"
"Sir, we might be looking at a parasitic replicator."
"Oh joy."
"We can't be sure of anything without an MRI." Dr. Brightman pointed out.
"Then get it up and running."
Dr. Brightman nodded and pulled the X-ray down off the light box as the others left. No one had notice the odd behaviour of the security camera that had kept focusing on them during the meeting. Back in medical containment Daniel was staring off into space. His eyes suddenly snapped back into focus and he looked around the empty room in indecision. He dragged his hands through is hair and growled in frustration.
"You're far too clever, Sam."