Chapter 7:

In the gateroom, General Hammond was trying desperately to think of how to pose the problem to whichever Tok'Ra responded. The exact state of the emergency had been left unpronounced. There was simply a request for immediate help due to a potential biological threat that could very well affect the Tok'Ra as well.

"Receiving Tok'Ra IDC, Sir." Walter's voice echoed from the control room.

Hammond turned back. "Open the Iris."

The sergeant complied, and the large metal shield retracted to reveal the shimmering puddle of the event horizon. Moments later, a single Tok'Ra stepped through. Hammond's throat tightened a little more as he watched his old friend emerge.

"Hey George! What can we do for you today?" Jacob greeted with jubilance.

"Hello Jacob." He replied. His tone left an eerie familiarity of dread in Jacob Carter's mind and his happy persona melted.

At the same time Hammond tried to think of what he was going to say, the words seeming to have left him as soon as Jacob had arrived, Daniel Jackson sprinted into the room.

"Jacob! Thank God! Sam's sedated but…" Jacob's face registered panic as his eyes flew from one man to the other.

General Hammond shot a warning glance at Daniel. As much as he liked the archeologist, now was not the time to be butting in without knowing if everyone had the information they needed.

"George, what the hell is going on?" Jacob's voice was to the point of anger for not being informed before his arrival.

"We're not sure Jake, that's why we called you. Something has happened to Major Carter…and we just don't know what caused it."

"What do you mean? Is Sam OK or not?"

Daniel watched as the two older pairs of eyes focused on him. He quickly maneuvered his glasses around his face, stalling as long as he could, which was only a few seconds. "We were on a routine mission a few days ago. A member of the village we came into contact with exposed Sam to something we have yet to identify, and since then... she's been acting a little…odd."

"What do you mean odd? And why would she be sedated?"

"Jacob." Hammond interrupted. "It's a little more than 'odd'. She's starting to behave as if…" he looked towards Dr. Jackson.

"It's like she's possessed." Daniel finished in a solemn tone.

Jacob's lips pursed together as he tried to understand just exactly what they meant. "Can I see her?"

"Of course." Hammond waved his hand out to usher Jacob before him.

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When Jacob arrived in the infirmary his first sight was not of his daughter, but Jack O'Neill. He was still sitting on the edge of the cot next to hers, patiently waiting for something to happen that would make her open her eyes and simply smile. But that wasn't going to happen at that moment.

Jacob slowly approached behind Jack with Daniel a few feet behind him. "Hey Jacob." Jack had never looked back, but somehow he knew Carter's father was behind him.

"Jack."

"She's not doing too good." Jack's face slowly lifted from its slumped position to glance over the woman laying in front of him once more. He got up to his feet, still avoiding eye contact with the Tok'Ra, and proceeded to leave the infirmary without a second glance. It wasn't lack of concern, but concern that he was showing too much.

"That would be the first time he's left her." Daniel muttered lightly.

Jacob turned and watched the door finish closing. "Really?"

"Yeah. She's been driving each of us crazy in rather individualized manners." Daniel swallowed hard as he tried to absorb his own words. The look Jacob was giving him was enough to make his blood freeze. "So have you ever heard of anything like this?"

"I'm still not exactly sure what this is."

There was a light clicking of heels followed by a tired voice. "I think I can help with that." Janet appeared beside Jacob with a file in hand. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Of course." Jacob's eyes were glued to Sam, studying how sick she looked, it was beyond unnatural, it was downright disturbing. "What have you got?"

"Well Sir, it seems that whatever Sam was exposed to has left her brain chemistry altered. Her brain waves have become varied and are continuing to change from the way they were before the mission in question."

"And am I to understand that this was caused by some kind of alien powder?"

"From what I've been told, yes." Janet nodded.

"So aside from physical evidence, what have you got?"

"It seems that her altered brain waves coincide with an altered personality. It progressed slowly at first, so we weren't completely sure until last night that it was anything more than a bad day."

Jacob shook his head. "You're losing me Doctor."

"She turned mean." This time it was Daniel who spoke as Janet lowered her folder and took a deep breath.

"Basically" Janet started. "she started off with a bad attitude, then moved to verbal assaults, dressing out of character, and then last night she almost stabbed Teal'c after she hit on the Colonel for about half an hour."

Jacob's eyes widened and his mouth opened. He wasn't sure which part hadshocked him more, Sam's attack on Teal'c, or Sam's behavior towards her CO.

Daniel brought up another subject that would help clarify the nature of the problem. "We have seen a similar incident, but that time Sam was under the influence of a disease of sorts from the Land of Light, this time Janet says there is no sign of any sickness at all, not even a fever."

"And whatever this is, it seems to be having a physical toll as well." Janet finally added as she looked over Sam's body.

"I see…" Jacob rubbed his hand over his face before reaching down and taking his daughter's immobile hand. "I'm sorry guys, but I don't know about this one…and Selmak can't think of anything remarkably similar either." His gaze never left Sam's face.

"We'll give you some time." Janet paused before nudging Daniel to lead the way out.

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While Jacob took some time to process what was happening to his daughter, Janet and Daniel found Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c sulking in the commissary.

"Well, Jacob doesn't seem to have any idea what this is." Daniel announced.

Janet shook her head. "I think he may take a while to get over seeing her like that so abruptly. Maybe he will remember something after he's had a bit."

"We watched it happen and I'm still not convinced I'm going to get over what I was just looking at." Jack growled into his coffee cup.

Daniel winced. "We'll fix it. Whatever it is. We always do."

"I believe Daniel Jackson is correct." Teal'c added. "We have been in many cases of such circumstances, and I personally believe that Major Carter will be able to overcome whatever this sickness is."

Janet's hand hit the table with more zeal than she had intended. "But we're going to have to determine what it is before we can fix it."

"How do we do that if we haven't been cleared to return to the planet then Doc?" Jack asked, still holding onto his own disgruntled disposition.

"We need to determine the exact chain of events, actions, triggers, anything that would determine the nature or purpose of this…illness." Janet took a deep breath. "We know that the most likely method of delivery was the 'dirt' that she inhaled on the planet. Correct?"

Jack put his cup down. "Yeah, she kept shaking her head afterwards and then she started bleeding out her nose and coughing up some blood before we got through the gate." He closed his eyes wishing that instead of teasing her about it he had taken care of the Justice's attitude problem.

Janet continued. "OK, so then what happened?"

"She started acting irritable. She didn't want to work on the recording device we found a few weeks ago. She asked me to eat with her, and when I hesitated she just left."

Jack looked at Daniel. "That must have been when she came in to eat with me…I mean she came to the commissary when I was here, picked up some cake…" Jack remembered the exchange of events clearly in his mind. "She seemed perfectly normal to me." She had, her eyes had smiled sweetly at him the entire time, like he looked forward too. He shook his head from the thought. "Then she got called to the infirmary."

"Where I told her she was fine." Janet moped.

"From there Major Carter's disposition continued to decline into a state of malice over the proceeding days." Teal'c surmised.

"Teal'c right. Sam just started turning into someone else completely. She was completely evil towards each and every one of…us." Daniel stopped and looked across the table. "Except Jack."

"Huh?" O'Neill's eyes grew wide. "What are you talking about Daniel?"

"I'm saying she treated the three of us and everyone else like crap, but she didn't act ...different... the same way with you."

"Daniel Jackson, I believe you are correct." Daniel nodded his head at the Jaffa.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jack whined as his eyes finally found Janet's. She was holding something back and he knew it.

Finally she spoke, but it wasn't what was on her mind in exact terms. "Sam's actions towards the Colonel, while not as mean as they were towards us, could still cause problems."

"Problems?"

"Fraternization regulations, Daniel. She may have been trying to get Colonel O'Neill into trouble." Janet looked quickly back to Jack as a way of reassuring him that she wasn't going to open a can of worms. His only concern was if she was going to explain what it was she was trying to hide to him.

The four continued to sit in silence for some time before Daniel finally pushed back from the table. "I'm going to go do some more research, see if I can find anything this time."

"I am in need of kel'no'rem." Teal'c bowed and proceeded out as well.

"Colonel."

"Doc."

"I didn't say anything because…"

"I know…what's on your mind?"

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In the infirmary Jacob was finally working with Selmak to try and remember anything that would match up with Sam's condition. Even with their new found determination, nothing was promising. He looked from where he was pacing over to his daughter once more. Her hands were moving.

Slowly approaching, Jacob held a sliver of hope before he began to remember that Sam was supposed to be under a light sedation and should not be rousing. "Sam?"

She mumbled nonsense in response.

"Sammie?"

"Dad?" Her eyes began to flicker open and closed until they finally focused on him.

"You OK kiddo?" He tried to smile for her.

A daunting grin crossed her face. "I'm fine…you on the other hand…"

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Please Review!

A/N: UH OH! Mwuhaha time is near…

And what could Janet possibly be talking to Jack about? Hmmmm…

Thanks for all of your reviews: )