Title: Theoretical Astromedicinal Biology

Chapter: 10

Authors: Kiki

A/N: Glad you guys liked the last chapter. It was v.short, so hope this satiates your curiosity as to the plot! I've got exams the rest of this week and into next week, so I won't be updating for a while, which I know is a really mean thing to do, but there's not a lot I can do about that…unless you wanna wait till I have the next chapter up to read this chapter…gah..just read anyway!

Enjoy!

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Previously, on Stargate SG1

So much for the magical kiss of life. Jack thought bitterly. Trembling slightly, Jack braced himself against her bed. "I'll be back Sam. Just hold on a little longer for me. I love you."

Not trusting himself, he turned and fled the room. Not noticing that the sign on the door read: 'Isolation Room 4'.

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Jack wove his way through the catacombs of the underground base, often pausing to gather himself. The drugs had not yet completely left his system, so he was still slightly disorientated, but he pressed on.

After his eyes played tricks on him and visited level 12 twice, he finally arrived on the level that housed the labs. Anxiously, he made his way around the corner before Carter's lab, unsure of what he would find. The Colonel stepped in front of his 2IC's door, to be met face-to-face with a yellow post-it note in reading: 'Jack. Go to Daniel's lab.'

Heart in his throat, Jack grabbed the note, taking off in the direction of his friends. He barely saw the people darting out of his way, his mind too highly strung for a second bombshell. Damn them for doing this a second time.

By the time he swung into Daniel's lab, he was out of breath and ready to collapse from dizziness. He gasped out, trying to catch his breath, "What…happened?"

To his surprised, everyone in the room only looked back at him calmly, if not a little surprised. It was Daniel that broke the silence, "Nothing Jack. What happened to you?"

"What happened was I got a note saying that you guys were here for some reason. Now what the hell is going on?" Jack demanded.

Again, Daniel was the first to react, "I'm sorry Jack. That was just because we found the thingy about 10 minutes ago. But we found some stuff that was better examined here."

Jack was stunned; all that running for nothing. He stumbled over to a stool, and nearly toppled it as he dropped his weight heavily upon it. He looked up at Daniel and Jacob, "Don't you ever do that to me again. Please."

"On the bright side, we did sort of find something. So your dash was worth it." Jacob supplied.

"Well thank you, Jacob." Jack shot back, suddenly feeling the urge to vomit. He slipped to his feet, and grabbed the side of Daniel's sink and lurched, emptying his stomach. Daniel gagged, and hastily snatched something out of vicinity before backing away from him offering no assistance.

"And thankyou Daniel. Next time you're Goa'ulded, I'll leave you to retch."

Apparently having a symbiote also had an influence on one's stomach, as it was Jacob who stepped forward to assist him back. "You ok there? What did they give you Jack?" then he chuckled, "Maybe we should give some to the Goa'uld."

"Certainly not unless you want to help them." Rang out an annoyed voice from the door; everyone in the room was well acquainted with its owner. Ignoring Jack's condition, she addressed him sharply, "Colonel. What were you thinking, discharging yourself like that!"

"It was an emergency?" Jack offered meekly, his arm wrapped around the faucet, forehead against the cool metal. "You here to kill me?

"Not today Colonel. Now, let me take a look at you." With that, she proceeded to shine her penlight in his eyes, clicking her tongue. "You should have stuck around. You need a shot to clear break down the rest of the drugs."

"Well thanks for telling me." Came Jack's reply, muffled by a tongue depressor. He started another sentence, but she applied more force on the depressor and he choked.

"I could have if you didn't run off like that!" her tone turned to one of more seriousness. "She's fine. No change. Although I don't know how long it will last. You look fine to me, considering. Now where do you want it?" the doctor asked impatiently, drawing a hydraulic syringe out of her coat pocket.

"IN THE ASS!" Jack said irritated, although relieved his second was still alive. Check ups in the infirmary pissed him off enough. Having on in Daniel's lab was worse, plus he was under considerable stress.

"Ass it is."

Before anyone could do anything, she'd jabbed the syringe into his right bum cheek, and a yell could be heard from a considerable distance.

"What the hell was that for!"

"Well you did say in the ass."

"I didn't mean literally."

"Just following orders, Colonel. Daniel. Jacob." She nodded at the other men before exiting.

"Napoleonic power monger." Jack swung his face to see Jacob and Daniel, trying to stifling laughter, and scowled. Then, took on a more serious tone, "Tell me you've made progress."

"Well, this is it. We had one of the guys take a look at it, and they said that this is the object they found. Strange thing is, it opened easily when they got the spud out, but now its seems to be locked in place." Daniel pointed ran his finger along the nearly seamless line where it had split before, "Other than that, It's basically a sphere with these strange markings on it that I've never seen before. They look closely like something like what we found on that planet with the SJ shippers…."

Jack rolled his eyes at Daniel's rant, and looked questioningly at Jacob, "Selmak doesn't recognise it either. We've been trying to take pictures of all surfaces of the sphere; to try lay it out in a one-dimension matrix, seeing if it has a pattern. Problem is, it doesn't seem to want to stay still."

Daniel demonstrated by setting the thing he was holding onto the bench before them. It seemed to hold still for a while, and then as if it had a mind of its own, it tilted off to the side and rolled away. Jacob caught the orb before it fell, and set it on the bench again, demonstrating its inability to hold still.

"Then leave it be!" Suddenly, Jack's hand shot out and grabbed the sphere.

The object itself was of a pale pink colour, not unlike that of rose quartz, with imperfections on the surface. It was considerably weighty, but its weight seemed to change according to the handler's grip. Jack found it hard to imagine that something had once been inside the orb. He was positive it was now solid to the core, even if it had been hollow to begin with. The imperfections of the stone material were in various striations, which ran parallel to the seam where it had previously opened, with an unusual peak within the line.

But something was familiar somehow, but he didn't know how. He could have sworn he could see pattern with just two demonstrations. But how could it have been one that both Jacob and Daniel had missed? Positioning the orb in a random fashion, he kept his eyes peeled on the crack. He was rewarded when, for the third time in a row, it rolled in the direction that the little triangular imperfection in the crack pointed to.

He frowned. It couldn't be that simple.

"Daniel. Get me some ink and paper. Now." He ordered, not taking his eyes off the sphere. "Jacob, help me move this bench will you?"

Daniel obeyed without question, riffling through shelves; this not being the first time Jack had randomly done things without knowing why. When it came to the Ancients, Daniel knew when not to ask questions. Jacob looked as though he wanted to comment on Jack's sanity, but seeing the man's face, changed his mind.

After this was all done, Jack frowned, "We need paper." and set about grabbing paper out of Daniel's printer. Carefully, he arranged the sheets of white paper on the concrete floor, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth in concentration. Soon, ten pieces of paper were arranged in two rows of five.

Stepping back, O'Neill surveyed his work. Just then, Teal'c entered the lab, the Replicator buster in one hand and a crumpled piece of paper in the other. Raising an eyebrow, he careful set down his procured items and inquired, "O'Neill, what are your intentions?"

"Shhh." Jack 'shushed', holding up a hand. He looked at the tray of royal purple ink that Daniel had set out, and dunked the sphere in it. Ensuring that all the surfaces were covered in the pigment, he turned back to the papers on the ground, pursing his lips singing under his breath,

"Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.."

With that, he extracted the orb, letting it the excess drip for a few moments, before stepping forward to place it on the top left hand sheet of paper. It sat still, purple ink pooling slightly around its base, before it started to roll. First down and then across…

"Oh my god…." Daniel said. Jacob nodded in agreement, quite speechless whereas Teal'c simply looked on in utter fascination.

It spelt out a word that only one person in the room could recognise: praeposterus.

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How was that? Huh? What do you think it means. Well you'll just have to wait and see now wont you?

Well, I'm off to trot off to some studying and exams. I really, REALLY hate year 10 atm. Love you all! Wish me Luck!

Kiki