Minutes past: Daniel sat transfixed, watching the red dot continue to slide menacingly across the monitor screen. Harriman leapt up and hurried over to the large computer terminal to check the readings. "Bandit is still on controlled entry" he called out. "Present heading 196!"
Major Davis was back on the telephone; "I understand that, Captain" he said urgently, "What I need to know is, what do you see? Do you have a visual?" He covered the receiver and called quietly over to Hammond, "Tenth's squadron's airborne on intercept course."
Harriman cut again; "The target has changed heading! It's dropped out of controlled entry vector." He rushed back to his place beside Daniel. "The target is breaking up." The red dot faltered, flashed half-heartedly once more and then faded out.
"We have visual confirmation!" Davis called out excitedly from the phone. "A fireball heading for the Pacific Ocean. 400 miles off the coast of California!"
Hammond and Daniel exchanged a look. The realisation dawning that they had no way of knowing whether or not SG-1 had escaped. Until the beta gate was up and running there would be no possibility of them gating home or even radioing back. It was still more than possible that some or all the team could be seriously injured. The initial confidence and relief that had flooded through Daniel when the gate vanished was already sinking into a dark pit of worry.
Oblivious, Major Davis continued excitably "Naval recovery teams are moving in to deal with any wreckage."
Daniel looked blankly at him and Davis, suddenly having an inkling how Daniel felt, made a clumsy attempt to offer consolation. "I'm sure you were right, Dr. Jackson. The point of commandeering the Stargate had to be an escape."
Daniel looked slowly into the empty gateroom "I just hope they made it out in time" he said quietly.
He felt drained and suddenly so tired that he could drop. In the past few hours he seemed to have run through the extreme of every emotion he possessed. Mind-numbing fear, guilt, frustration, regret; then that brief burst of euphoria and hope that quickly evaporated away to cold foreboding. Now he just felt emotionally numb in the way that overused muscles give up after intense exertion. He looked down at his hands and realised that he was shaking and his breathing felt ragged. Around him almost everyone else was celebrating. The silent hours of tension had burst into a buoyant hysteria that Earth – and their lives – were safe. Daniel realised that very few of those present knew SG-1, and certainly no one (with the possible exceptions of General Hammond and Janet) knew them as well as he did. Someone was calling for three cheers. There was backslapping going on. The more disciplined were still at their desks, excitably relaying the reports of sightings that suddenly streamed in. There was even one person doing a victory dance.
Janet slipped quietly through the throng of celebrating bodies and made her way to Daniel's side. "Time to go back to the infirmary" she said firmly but quietly. Daniel nodded and stood up, his knees almost buckling under him. Janet was ready and slipped a hand under his elbow to steady him. She looked round, quickly locating Hammond in the chaos and guided Daniel over to him.
"General?" she said, touching him lightly on the arm, "Dr Jackson is returning to the infirmary with me."
General Hammond turned round and looked into Daniel's pale face and hoped that he had not made an error of judgement in allowing him to stay in the control room. "Thank you for your assistance Dr Jackson" he said seriously. "But I trust I won't see you down here again until Dr Fraiser has cleared you for duty."
"Thank you sir" Daniel returned with a wan smile. He raised his eyebrows questioningly "Debriefing…?"
"Can wait" Hammond cut in. "You get better first son."
Hammond watched the retreating figures as they headed back down the stairs observing how Janet carefully positioned her slight frame so as to be able to offer support to Daniel who looked utterly beaten. The General wondered how much of the demeanour was down to the illness, and how much was due to stress. Hammond breathed a rueful sigh and turned back to the control room. The initial relieved chaos was already resolving itself as the SGC prepared to field and deflect the inevitable questions.
Major Davis, again manning the phone, proclaimed; "HMS Invincible due to arrive at the crash site at 15 hundred hours and 36 minutes sir."
"We have reports coming in from Russia of a suspect nuclear explosion" announced Harriman.
From further down the room a voice said "Initial readings suggest tidal wave from the splash down may trigger localised flooding."
"Possible reports of an earthquake out at sea."
Major Davis again; "The president is due to make an announcement in fifteen minutes."
"Joint defence chiefs have declared an emergency meeting."
"COBRA on the line – they want answers."
Hammond briefly blanked out the flurry of international concerns and picked up the phone. "How soon can the beta gate be operational?" He frowned "Well I'm afraid that is not soon enough... No, Major Carter will not be able to assist with configuring the systems…Do everything you can." Replacing the phone carefully his jaw tightened in a determined grimace. Priority number 1: Get SG-1 home.