TM Chapter 7

Dr. Janet Frasier was swimming. She was also dreaming. Which sport predominantly occupied her attention at which moment she couldn't be sure. One instant, she seemed to be floating in a sea of light, with nothing around her but the strange, colored water from the medical beds in the alien infirmary. Someone was talking to her. No, that wasn't right, someone was talking through her. Explaining the healing rituals and learning about her human body. She couldn't hear the voice exactly, but she could feel it inside her mind, almost as if she were reading a novel aloud to herself. The voice was very deep and soothing, and Janet was not afraid at all.
In another instant, she was back at the SGC in her own infirmary. Janet was speaking to all the women stationed on the base about performing self-breast exams. She was surrounded by all females, even Cassie and her own mother, who had died almost 15 years ago. There was one woman missing. Janet looked around at all of the faces looking up to her from their make-shift conference room. She couldn't see Sam. Even her closest friend from high school was sitting in the third row, and then Janet really knew she was dreaming. Marianne had been killed by a drunk driver on senior prom night. It had been another student from their school who had caused the accident. Marianne still wore her hair in the flowing, feathery style of the day, which clashed rottenly with the blue BDU uniform that she wore.
Even though she absolutely knew without a doubt that she was in fact dreaming, the dream seemed more real to her than the other place, and now Janet looked around at her audience again. A little panic butterfly fluttered around in her belly. She said in her dream "Where is Sam?" No one responded, they just continued to stare between Janet and an object to Janet's right side. Without looking in that other direction, Dr. Frasier walked over to one of the female Sergeants and bent down to grab the small woman's chin.

"Sgt. Vaughn, has anyone reported in about what happened to Major Carter? Has the General ta-" The woman didn't even look at Janet as she was speaking. A glazed, silvery substance seemed to cover her eyes. Frasier shook the young Sgt.s face. The silvery eyes finally seemed to find her, and then Sgt. Vaughn blinked...sideways.
Janet let go of the woman's face with a start, and in her dream, she could feel her heart begin to race. Taking a quick step back, she turned to look around her again. It was then that she saw that all of the women had the mercury -colored eyes of her new alien acquaintances. It was seeing Cass with that blank, silvery stare that seemed to freak her out the most. She retreated further away from the group, as all at once, the women turned their heads to look over at her. Janet suddenly wanted out of this dream very badly.
"I want to wake up now; I want to wake up and go find Sam. I want to wake up and go find Sam. I know I'm dreaming, I want to wake up so I can get to Sam and help her." Even saying the mantra out loud didn't offer the comfort that she had hoped for, nor did she wake. Janet closed her eyes in her dream, so that she could not see the group of women around her, and put her closed fists to the sides of her face. Suddenly, a very familiar voice was talking to her from inside her head.
"But I'm right here Janet. We're all here. You have to listen and do what I say Janet, please."
Janet Frasier opened her eyes and spun around towards the front of the infirmary. Sam Carter was standing in the place that Janet herself had occupied only moments before. Janet gasped, but could not speak.

Unlike the rest of the women that sat around her, Sam looked absolutely horrible. She was bruised and battered, and her hair desperately needed washing. Janet noticed that Sam wasn't dressed in her BDUS like the others. She was dressed in the white patient scrubs that they used in the SGC infirmary instead of hospital gowns. Janet could feel her breathing accelerate, as the urge to scream and cover her ears almost overwhelmed her.
"It's all right Jan; I'm alive...for now." The voice in her head rang. Sam held out her arms for her friend. Janet's first instinct as a doctor was to move forward when she saw Sam's arms. There were marks around Sam's wrists that looked as if she had been tied up with barbed wire. They looked very raw and infected. Janet bit her cheek in her dream to keep the worry butterfly still.

"No, these aren't the result of restraints, they're-" Janet cut her off. As Janet did understand that she was dreaming, she wasn't all that surprised that Sam could read her thoughts. But what held her on edge was the fact that Sam's mouth never moved. Her friend was talking to...no- through her like the alien race on 302. But that wasn't the worst thing. Sam Carter's eyes were the same color silver as Sootaal's had been when he'd lifted Janet from the floor after her "elevator" had crashed.

"What is this Sam? What's happened to you?" Janet stepped back in Sam's direction again.

"Janet, listen. I don't have time to explain right now." Sam's voice got louder and more urgent in her head. Janet winced.

"But-"

"We're almost out of time! Janet, I am ALIVE back at the SGC, but not for long. These marks-" Sam held up her wrists to Janet's eye level. "They will keep me protected, but only on P3x-302. Earth medicine is not going to help me. I need to get back to Che'ctala, and I need to get back so that the Mor'ei can heal me."

"But Sam... how do I get them to just let me go? They killed my team and-"

"You can do it Janet, you just have to. You're not a prisoner to them. I'm going to die without your help. I'm going to die without the help of the Mor'ei. More importantly, the Mor'ei will die without my help….AND yours. I have to try and save them Jan, WE have to help save them. They don't deserve the fate they've been dealt."

"Yes, but Sam-"

"HURRY JANET! YOU HAVE TO HURRY!" Sam shouted her thoughts into Janet's mind. The sound was so loud in her head that Janet involuntarily reached up to cover her ears.

"Talk to Meeghal. He'll know." Sam said and started to take small, backward steps.

"Wait Sam." Janet said, and reached out her own arms. "Wait, don't go."

"Talk to Meeghal." Sam spoke again into her mind, and then Janet was once again transported back into that beautiful aqua pool of light.

At the same moment that Janet Frasier stopped dreaming of her best friend, the Stargate on Che'ctala collapsed in on itself with a beauteous whisper. Two single lines of Jaffa marched heavily down the path in front of the gate, transporting armor and weaponry. They parted only to get around the dialing device. They marched in metallic time, clanking across the gravel.

The leader in the front of the lines was Parnok, Ba'al's newest first prime. He had earned his place with great honor and heavy personal sacrifice to both himself and his fellow Jaffa. Surprising his people however, he had secured the position not by the many deeds which he had performed in the name of his God, but in a moment of "weakness". His lord had not called it "weak", as he had named Parnok's act "one of excellent military strategy." Parnok's former master would have been proud.

Only achieving his stature in recent months, Parnok's most current assignment had been on this planet known amongst the Goa'uld, as one of many that had been forbidden by the system lords. The natives to this world were feeble, but their mind powers were incredibly strong. The system lords had forbidden it's inhabitance for centuries after one of them had succumbed from the invasion of his host's mind. The Mor'ei had damaged the host's mind beyond the capabilities of the Goa'uld to heal, and the Goa'uld became afraid of the Mor'ei.

Until Lord Ba'al had made the decision to occupy Che'ctala for his own strategic advantage, the Mor'ei had prospered peacefully for hundreds of years. Now, as Parnok led his Jaffa along the gravel path to the barrier controls, he felt his symbiote writhe in its womb. Parnok despised the feeling of discomfort from the creature that he carried within him, and he could understand why the Goa'uld had ruled this world unfit for habitation. He couldn't imagine having that same level of discomfort in his head.

As he stopped shy of the barrier controls, Parnok turned to face the Jaffa behind him. Although their expressions would never betray their anxiety, the eyes of every one of them told the same unspoken story. Fear. Unease. Worry. Superstition. Duty. Parnok was certain that they only held rank because it was their duty to their lord, and to show cowardice would result in the greatest blasphemy.

Without speaking, Parnok motioned for them to spread out and set up the cannon. All were vigilant. He waved his hand again, and more took guard to the side of the pyre that housed the controls to Ba'al's device. The stone compartment reminded Parnok of the controls on a mother ship, and they looked extraordinarily out of place among the primitive landscape.

As he stepped up onto the operating platform, his symbiote became unbearably restless. He thought that the device must give off some unknown form of radiation that perturbed it. Parnok looked up wearily from the controls. Straight ahead of him on the gravel path stood one of the natives. The first prime knew her as the mate of the leader Sootaal. She stood with her long arms curled around her torso as all of the Mor'ei did in self-protection. Her skin was the shade of a dead gohoynum blossom.

"Why have you come again? Where are the patrons? Our chief patrons have been promised safe return for many cycles of the moons!"

Parnok had the absurd desire to cover his ears, but resisted. It felt like the creature was shouting directly into his mind. He felt, rather than saw the other Jaffa behind him flinch in response. He had to remember that few of his warriors had dealt with such an entity as the Mor'ei before, and he could sense the unease grow amongst them as the native continued her dialogue in their heads.

"We have full-filled our service to your master in the sky. The matrons are starving, our young do not grow! Will your master have us perish before he acquires his treasure?"

"Stand back." Parnok spoke aloud. "Lord Ba'al has sent me to punish the Mor'ei for your mate's carelessness." Parnok stepped back down off of the platform, but his symbiote continued to squirm inside him, more agitated than before.

Suddenly before he could prevent it, one of the Jaffa soldiers behind him powered up his staff weapon, stepped up, and fired a blast at the creature a few meters away. As the staff blast hit the barrier, a metallic shimmer waved in front of them, and the blast was absorbed by the force-field. The Jaffa ranks mumbled and whispered in surprise. Some gasped, and others leveled their own staff weapons. Everyone seemed agitated. The Mor'ei female did not move away. However, angered and confused little noises now ticked very loudly inside Parnok's mind. He knew the others were hearing them as well because the mumbles and whispers stopped again. The first prime also knew he only had seconds.

He had witnessed first-hand what happened to a Jaffa's mind after that warrior had killed one of the Mor'ei. That Jaffa… had been Parnok's predecessor. Lord Ba'al had had to kill him in mercy after seeing his behavior for himself, and then Parnok was named first prime. While the Mor'ei could communicate with everyone at once, and damage their minds as equally efficient, he was certain that if he sent thoughts directly at the female, none of the others would hear him.

In his mind, Parnok sent the thought "Stand back. I have no wish to harm you. I must speak aloud for the others behind me know not of this world's secrets. Please Matron, come no closer. Listen to my thoughts only, ignore my words."

That was the key. Parnok's use of the native's title persuaded her to step away from the invisible barrier. The furious little clicks eased somewhat in his mind. Out loud he spoke over his shoulder.

"Jaffa! Kree nok shel nortar ratas." The Jaffa behind him spread out. Some took flank beside him and more stood beside the control system to the barrier. All lowered their weapons as ordered. Out loud again, Parnok spoke.

"Now. Let us speak of your mate Sootaal's transgressions, and what we can do to remedy them. My Lord Ba'al grows impatient."

Sam's voice echoed through her skull as Janet met consciousness with trepidation, keeping her eyes closed. Certain that she was really awake this time, she began a self-assessment of all her extremities, toes first. She curled them in, and stretched them out. A feeling of weightlessness was all around her, and as she moved each joint in turn, there was no pain. Janet turned her ankles, bent her knees, and finally she flexed at the waist testing her hips too. No pain, but the substance that she was suspended in was cold, and it made her teeth chatter. Surprisingly though, she was not wet, so it wasn't water that she was floating in, it was something else.

Janet opened her eyes as her heart pounded anxious time in her chest. The aqua-lavender light seemed like it was coming from everywhere. Janet knew that she was lying face-up, but she couldn't feel the platform underneath. She was completely submerged, yet she felt dry, and had no trouble breathing. However, it was like trying to sit at the deep end of a pool. Her body weight held her below the surface, but she hovered above the bottom of the chamber that she was in. As she turned her head from left to right in an attempt to get her bearings, Janet heard the deep voice within her mind again.

"You are safe now. The chamber has completed its work, and I have completed the ritual. Do you continue to feel pain?"
Janet tried to open her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She flexed her arms and hands at her sides once more. There was a slight burning around the skin of her wrists, but it was easy to ignore. She crunched her toes and bent her knees and flexed her ankles again. A burning was there also, but everything seemed like it was in working order. Not one joint hurt. Janet pulled both knees as high as the bedchamber would allow, testing her hips and pelvis too. In tact. Moving.
"Looks like you were able to put Humpty back together again after all." Janet thought the words instead of attempting to speak.
"That is another way to identify yourself, yes? 'doctor, Janet, Jan, Frasier, Humpty? How many ways do humans have of calling one another?"
Janet began to giggle in her mind. The giggle spread to her lips, and she could feel them part in an involuntary grin. Her body shook with silent, but heavy laughter. She couldn't help it. She could feel the curious clicks in her mind as the alien tried to understand what was so funny. She let the laughter have its way, and when it faded, she thought more words at the alien, wherever he was.
"You are Meeghal, right?" She didn't so much as ask the question, as acknowledge that she knew who he was. She was certain that Sam had known too.

Janet could hear the surprise in the wordless clicks. "Listen Meeghal." she thought at him again. "I am very grateful that you performed your healing ritual for me. But I don't understand why you killed the rest of my team, and saved me. Why?"
More surprised clicks in Janet's mind; this time though, she could feel her frustration returning, but Meeghal chose to respond instead of allow her to express it.
"They could not be saved."
"But WHY? WHY NOT?"
she thought back loudly.
"Our laws forbade it."
Janet attempted to sigh, but her alien chamber wouldn't let her exhale. "What IS this stuff anyway? Never mind, Meeghal, listen. Can you please get me out of here now? There isn't much time, and I would like to talk to you and your leaders."
"You are healed now, they can hear you if you want them to. All you need do is address them as you have addressed me, and your thoughts will be known to them."

Looking around, the aqua-lavender light was the only thing she could see. Reaching up with her hands, Janet felt a solid, smooth surface surrounding her on all sides "like a coffin" she thought, almost panicking. Quickly she squelched her own fear. "Or rather... Like a sarcophagus" Janet thought as she kept flexing her leg muscles repeatedly. Still no pain. This was a good sign.

"Yes Meeghal, but I'm human, I'd like to speak with my mouth and voice. It's very odd for me to be communicating like this. Can you please let me out?" Janet thought.

"As you wish, matron."

"Matron?" questioned Janet with her thoughts.

"It is the title we give to females who are of age. Please remain still while the healing chamber dis-engages."

Janet lie motionless as she was directed. She felt her backside touch the bottom of the chamber as the substance around her dissolved into a heavy, steam-like fog. Then, as the substance became thinner, she felt the top of the chamber open. The fog turned quickly to steam, and then dissipated all together. Janet lifted her arms slowly to feel only empty air above her. Her arms felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each, so she let them fall back to her sides. Her vision was considerably blurred, and she thought again of the fog in the chamber.

As the chamber slid the rest of the way back over her head, Janet could hear a stone-like "ka-chonk" sound as she felt herself get lower to the ground. As she tried to sit up, Janet realized that it wasn't only her arms that felt un-godly heavy, it was everything. Her head felt like it was strapped down, but of course that was just an illusion. She had been able to turn her head completely to either side only moments ago. Her legs wouldn't move either. She felt like she was trapped at the end of a giant vacuum cleaner hose.

"Meeghal, I think I need a little help here. Why can't I move?" Janet thought it would be easier for the moment to simply "think" her communication until she could fully get her bearings.

"It is a function of the healing chamber. You will feel its release momentarily."

As the alien's thoughts were leaving her mind, Janet understood what he meant. With slow, gentle shifts, her skin and muscles seemed to relax and loosen again. Soft noises came from the outside of her chamber, and all at once, she felt the suction of her vacuum cleaner let go. This time, she sat up. Janet had expected a little pain, at least after everything that she knew she had broken, but there was nothing.

Janet was suddenly freezing, and looking blurry-eyed down at herself, realized she was naked. Too grateful that she was healed, and knowing she would have had to undress any of her own patients to treat them, she surprisingly did not feel self-conscious about her nudity. She stood up, testing her balance and coordination. Those were in tact too, but her sight remained unfocused, like there was a film covering her eyes. Before she could question Meeghal about her condition however, he was there.

Towering over her (as almost every one seemed to), the alien stood with his very long arms outstretched and an enormous "robe" clutched in his grasp. The healer looked down at her with those strange, silvery eyes. From what Janet could discern, Meeghal's complexion was a deeper color than Sootaal's had been; but it was still as smooth and flawless as silk. His arms offered the robe with a little gesture at Janet, and she smiled up at him. She realized that for now there were no clicks in her mind, and wondered if it was his way of giving her a little privacy until she was covered up.

As she reached out with both arms, the Mor'ei slid the robe down over them, and used his own arms to wrap it around her. The touch of the fabric to her skin felt better than any soft fleece she had ever known back on Earth. He kept wrapping until there was no more of the strange beautiful fabric, and produced an extra-long vine with the tiniest leaves and flowers on it, to hold it in place. Janet was warm instantly. Then, Meeghal used more of the vine to hoist up the sleeves on her small arms, so Janet could use her hands. When that was completed, he put firm, but flexible covers on her feet. They felt wonderful. As far as shoes went, Janet thought she could probably hike a hundred miles in them and not feel a thing. As far as dressing her, Janet thought Meeghal had had quite a lot of practice, as he seemed to tie her new robes with great care, patience, and ease.

"Thank you Meeghal, you are very kind." As Janet spoke out loud for the first time, it came out in a croak. The clicks came back into her mind again, followed by soft words.

"It is my duty to protect you, Matron. I do apologize for the size of the robes, but I have anchored them in the way of the young. I hope you approve? Shall I summon the Chiefs and leaders for you?"

"Meeghal, you don't have to call me Matron. Call me Janet. Or Dr. Frasier. And the robes and shoes are delightful." The croak came out slightly louder this time.

"Yes, that is a title I saw within your thoughts. What is a doctor? A frasier?" Janet could feel him emphasize the word doctor.

"Well, Frasier is my second name. On Earth, my whole name is Janet Frasier. 'Doctor' is a title we give to our healers. On my world, I am a healer, like you Meeghal."

Suddenly, surprised, maddened clicks sounded in her mind. No, the clicks pummeled her mind. Janet reached up with her hands to cover her ears, even though she knew it was useless. She squeezed her eyes shut, in pain for the first time since she was carried to this room by the other being called Sootaal. As quickly as they had started, the clicks began to recede, but they did not leave her mind altogether. Janet opened her eyes, expecting Meeghal's smooth face to be hovering above her own.

There was no one there. Janet heard a soft swoosh and looked to her left. She saw the hazy back of Meeghal disappear out of the same entryway that she thought she had been carried through, and the swoosh repeated itself as the entryway sealed back shut. The clicks in her mind were gone as completely now as the creature who had thought them.

"Oookkkaaaayyy." Janet said out loud in shock as she lowered her hands from her ears. "Meeghal? What did I say? I'm sorry for offending you!" She called out. "Meeghal come back! Please?" Janet stepped carefully down from the side of the healing chamber onto a slate-rainbow colored floor. She was alone in the room, and she knew it, she could feel it. Or rather couldn't feel it. The quiet pressed down on her, worse than the substance in the healing chamber.

"Meeghal! PLEASE COME BACK! I'M SO SORRY! PLEASE?" Janet sent her thoughts as far and as loud as she possibly could. Still there was only silence, and her own fast-paced breathing. She walked slowly over to the shimmering wall that had reminded her of the observation window back home. All she could see through the lavender vapor over her eyes, was her own reflection mirrored back to her. As she leaned in closer for a better look, Janet saw a tiny little human standing in alien robes. Her auburn hair hung softly, touching her shoulders. She was beautiful. Janet almost didn't recognize herself. But as Janet turned her head first to one side, then to the other, the woman in the mirror copied her. Janet understood now why her vision was clouded. The mirror woman was watching her with silver-colored eyes.