Daniel POV
September 2000
Colorado Springs
Cassie is dating. I don't know how to deal with this. She is the oldest SG-1 child. But I don't feel like she's old enough to date. This I have to see.
Luckily Teal'c had the same thought. He picks me up. He learned to drive not too long ago when we were traveling through time. I made him stop for donuts halfway there in an attempt to explain why we are coming.
I know that no one is going to believe the lame excuse. As soon as we enter the room Teal'c takes off. I rush after him, although I'm not sure what I can do to stop Teal'c.
"Are we correct in assuming you are a classmate of the young CassandraO'Neill?" Teal'c asks with his arms crossed and glaring down at the boy.
The boy looks sick and shaking.
"We just wanted to meet Cassie's friend. Get back to studying." I try to nudge Teal'c out of the way, but that is an insane attempt.
"When CassandraO'Neill was a younger girl she injured herself while endeavoring to climb a tree. That tree was destroyed, as is anything which would dare to hurt young CassandraO'Neill." He says glaring at the boy even harder.
"I…" Damon stammers.
"Teal'c," Sam says with a warning sound. Teal'c gives the boy one more glare taking a step out of the room at the exact moment that I try again to move. I almost tip over. Teal'c puts out one giant arm to steady me, and we both leave the room looking far less intimidating than we did when we came in, but no less embarrassing to poor Cassie, I am sure.
Daniel's POV
October 2001
Colorado Springs
"Sha're," I say softly coming home.
"Daddy!" my children squeak. I spin them around and hug them. Then they scramble to their playroom.
"I'm going to be gone for a few days," I say gravely.
"Offworld?" she gasps.
"No, you remember Dr. Jordan?" he asks. I nod. "He died."
"Oh no!" I exclaim. "You're going back to Chicago? I want to come. We'll bring the kids. They've never gone anywhere. They are the children of a galaxy traveler and they've never even left the state."
"Ok," I say.
Daniel's POV
October 2001
Chicago
"The prodigal son returns!" Steven announces.
"Steven? Sarah," I say cautiously. I know now that Sha're was desperately jealous of Sarah back when we were all in college together. I didn't know it at the time, because I never imagined that either of them could feel anything for me.
"Daniel. It's good to see you," Sarah says with a wide grin.
"Sarah," Sha're says pointedly.
Sarah's smile fades, and she turns to her politely, "Sha're."
"And our kids," Sha're smiles, "We have three." She parades them out. This is just the sort of circumstance that make Aki nervous, and he makes that "Ahh" vocalization he hardly ever makes any more.
Sha're looks embarrassed. It's the first time our son has ever embarrassed her, and I feel fury rise up inside of me. He's my son, and I'm not ashamed of him.
"Aki Bakey, Daddy's little baby!" I say taking him into my arms and spinning him. He giggles, and Sha're stops the spinning to kiss him.
"Nice to meet you all," Sarah says.
"Yeah. Despite the circumstances," I say sadly.
"I know. I can't believe he's gone," she says sadly.
"So, what exactly happened? I mean…uh…the paper I read attributed his death to the curse of Osiris," I ask.
"According to the police…" Steven begins with a sigh, "there was a slow gas leak in the lab, and something must have caused a spark, the whole place went up, he was killed instantly."
"We would have called you, but, nobody knew where to find you," she says pointedly.
"That's…that's okay," I mutter. Sha're gives me a grin when she discovers that Sarah didn't even know where to find me.
"I'm glad you're here. So, how long has it been? Ten years?" she asks.
"Twelve."
"What have you been up to?" Steven asks.
Sha're's POV
"Uh…I've been busy," Daniel says.
"Really? I've looked for signs of you out on the fringes. There's been no papers, no research projects. It's like you fell off the face of the earth," Sarah asks.
"Yeah, it is a little like that, isn't it?" Daniel says grinning at me.
"Daddy talks to aliens," Pend'ra proclaims.
Hess shakes her head, "You need to learn the difference between fiction and non-fiction little one," she says picking on her little sister.
"Why did you come? You managed to stay away all this time. If you're looking for closure, Daniel, I'd say you're a little late," Steven says stomping off.
"Always a pleasure, Steven!" Daniel calls after him, "So, are you doing anything or…" he asks Sarah.
"No, I'm all yours," Sarah says moving closer to him. Awkward. I thought my being here would prevent this.
"Look, I saw a park over there…" I begin.
"Right, we should take the kids over there, they'd get bored with grown-up talk," Daniel says smiling at me. Oh, I totally thought I would go entertain the kids while he flirted with the woman who used to be in love with him. But hey, my husband is way cooler than that.
"I'm sorry. He's not usually like this. The last couple of days have been really hard on him," Sarah apologizes.
"Steven? No, he's right. I should have come back sooner. I was busy. The truth is, I got caught up in something…incredible."
"You found something, didn't you? Something that supports your theory? Tell me. Come on," she says excitedly as we walk toward the playground.
"I can't," he says.
"Daniel!" she protests.
"Okay. Let's just say…that what the world knows about ancient Egypt barely scratches the surface. The truth is more incredible than any of us ever imagined," he says mysteriously.
A wide grin covers her face, "Now, that's the Daniel I remember. Come on, I want to show you something."
Sarah's POV
October 2001
Chicago
"I thought you might like to see what we were working on before the accident," my voice says. But I'm not saying it. I want to scream at Daniel that the person he is talking to is not me, but every time I try nothing comes out. His wife took the kids back to the hotel room. The little one needed a nap. I'm glad they are gone, for no other reason than the fact that I don't want this thing inside of me to hurt them.
"Wow! This stuff is incredible!" Daniel exclaims.
"I only wish we had more time with them. The Egyptian government's made a formal request for their return. We've been desperately trying to learn as much as we can before the deadline."
Daniel picks up a piece of papyrus, and reads, ""Woe to all who open this, my final resting place.""
"Careful, now. All these artifacts are cursed. Well, that's what they say," the thing which is in control of my body teases. Yeah, there is some truth in that. Throw away all your doubt Daniel, believe in the curse and get out of town with those kids in tow!
"Yeah, I…read something like that."
"Every member of the original expedition in 1931 died within a year of the dig. Then the ship transporting these artifacts to America sank off the coast of New Jersey six months later."
"The Steward Expedition."
"Yes."
"Those deaths were attributed to mold spores that were released from the unsealed chamber."
"Mold spores aren't exactly front page material."
"No, I guess not. Er…if these things went down with the ship in 1931, how'd they wind up here?"
"They found the wreck a couple of months ago. All these artifacts were still in their packing crates. They brought it up and they shipped them to the museum. We just got them last week."
"Well, we can stay for a couple more days if you need help cataloging these."
The creature within me starts searching for something. I don't know why she's so interested in it. It really didn't seem important. But I'm not privy to most of her thoughts. The ones I do have access to are the ones that for the most part I don't want access to. Apparently this thing has had some experience with torture.
"What?" Daniel asks the thing he thinks is me.
"Something's missing."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. A gold amulet. Daniel, I've got to find it."
Daniel's POV
April 2001
Chicago
I finally coax Aki into the hotel pool. As soon as his body hits the water he lets out a high pitched terrified scream, and starts squirming in my arms. I take the step to the edge of the pool as fast as I can, and set him outside of the pool before climbing out myself. I sit down on a chair, and pull him onto my lap. He's shaking. I'm pretty sure it's not because he's cold, but I wrap a blanket around him just in case. Everyone in the pool area, and more than a few people from their hotel rooms are staring at us.
"Don't baby him," Sha're says, "He's never going to learn to swim if he won't even get in the water."
I pull him a little closer to me, "If he never learns to swim Sha're that will be just fine. He'll still be a wonderful little kid."
"Of course, but…" she starts.
My mind has been spinning ever since I saw Sha're's reaction to Sarah seeing our son earlier today.
"Why do you push him so hard?" I ask her.
"Because I want him to…to get better."
"Right, and I get it. I mean he never would have come as far as he has if…but Sha're…what if he never gets better? What if he gets worse?"
"Don't say that," she says coming out of the water with the water-winged Pend'ra in her arms, "He's getting better every day."
"I know," I say kissing the top of my son's head. He's calmed down now, "But I guess what I'm saying is…do you want him to be better for his sake or yours?"
I look up into her eyes, and I know that I've really wounded her. I probably crossed a million lines right then.
"I'm sorry Sha're," I say hanging my head, "but today…he embarrassed you. I hated that he embarrassed you. I guess I just needed to know that…no matter how he turns out you're still going to love him.
"Of course," she sounds genuinely surprised that I would even be concerned about this.
"I mean even if he's thirty years old and every time we take him into public has a truly humiliating melt down," I challenge.
"That's not going to…"
I cut her off, "I need to know about if it did, Sha're. Our child has a disability. I need to know that it's going to be ok, even if he doesn't get cured. Even if all your work doesn't make him better."
She sets Pend'ra down on a chair, and kneels next to the chair I am holding Aki in. She turns his head toward her, and he looks at her. These last few months he seems to have gotten ok with eye contact. That was all Hess. She told him to look at the colors in people's eyes.
"Aki'li," she says, "Mommy loves you no matter what. No matter what you do, I will always love you." Then she looks up at me, "Always, I'm sorry I was embarrassed."
"It's ok, I get it," I say pulling her onto my lap with my son.
"Mommy's wet!" Aki says trying to push her away.
"You're right Aki, can Mommy go get you into dry clothes?" she asks him. Then she looks at me.
"Pend'ra, should Daddy come swim with you?" I ask. Her little water winged arms spread out to greet me.
Sha're's POV
April 2001
Chicago
Daniel's phone is ringing. He's giving Pend'ra a bath so I pick it up. I hear Sam's voice, "Daniel, inside that jar you had us analyze."
"It's Sha're," I break in.
"Oh," she says, "Can you give Daniel a message."
"Sure."
"Inside that jar is a Goa'uld. It's dead now, but it hasn't been dead for very long. There was a second jar, it is missing. But it's possible it contained a live Goa'uld."
"So, you're telling me there could be a live Goa'uld out there?" I ask.
"Yes," Sam says.
"I'm going to tell him right now," I say.
"Daniel," I say knocking on the door.
"Come on in," he says. I walk in and my husband is sitting on the edge of the bathtub with our daughter wrapped in a towel on his lap.
"Daniel, the jar you had Sam study had…" I look at my daughter and quickly think of a code. I say the word snake in Latin, a language none of our children have mastered, "in it."
"A live one?" he asks in alarm.
"Ah, no, it was dead. But they think there could be another one that is alive."
"In someone?" he asks.
I nod.
"Ok, let's get you into your…" he begins talking to Pend'ra.
"No, Daniel, I've got it," I say taking her from his arms, "I can handle the kids. You go, and save the world.
Daniel's POV
April 2001
Chicago
"Daniel? There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
"Yeah, I'm just doing a little extra research," I explain.
"I went by Steven's place, and he's gone. He's packed up everything and left."
"I know."
"You think he stole the amulet, don't you?" Sarah found an amulet whose carbon dating proves my theory about things being way older than people thought they were is correct. I so don't care about that. What I do care about is a bunch of people not dying.
"Yes."
"To stop your theories from being proven correct?"
"It's possible. Anyway, I have to find him."
"Well, I'll come with you."
"No…No, it's…too dangerous."
"We're talking about Steven here."
"Sarah, there have been three deaths already."
"Daniel, I know Steven. He may be capable of a lot of things, but he's no murderer."
"Well, you might not know him as well as you think you do…at least…not anymore."
"What's that supposed to mean? Oh, let me guess…you can't explain, right?"
"Sarah…"
"Well, what do you expect, Daniel? You show up after twelve years, but you can't say where you've been! You've got this mysterious ability to read this ancient language nobody's ever seen before, but you can't explain how! Then, when we finally find the evidence to vindicate you to the entire archeological community, you want to cover it up! What is going on? This is me, Daniel."
"I know."
"Then, why can't you trust me? What have you been doing for the past twelve years?"
"I want to tell you, Sarah. Really I do, believe me. I wish you could see some of the things I've seen. But the world is not ready to know. Not yet."
"I'm not asking you to tell the world. I'm asking you to tell me. This is my life's work, too, Daniel. So, you're working for the government, what? Daniel!"
"I'm sorry!"
"You're just going to disappear again, aren't you?" she accuses.
"Yes."
"I think Steven was right. You never should have come back," she says bitterly.
Sha're's POV
Colorado Springs
April 2001
"Are you ok?" I ask as Daniel comes home. He went to Egypt to capture the snide Steven who apparently has a Goa'uld inside of him.
"I'm fine," Daniel mutters.
"Is Steven alright?"
"The Goa'uld wasn't inside of Steven, it was inside of Sarah. Steven actually got pretty beat up in the process, but yes, it looks like he is going to be alright."
"Sarah has a Goa'uld in her?" I ask.
"And she got away," he adds. It is then that I notice a burn mark on his forehead. It looks like the kind of thing that would be left over from a Goa'uld hand device.
"Daniel," I say carefully looking at it.
"Don't touch it," he says nervously.
I hug him.
"It's easier when you don't know the host," he says. "How do you look at Osiris, and not see Sarah?"
"I'm sure you did everything you could," I comfort.
He holds me tight, "I can't imagine what it was like to see your mother as a Goa'uld."
"It wasn't easy," I confess.
Sha're's POV
February 2002
Colorado Springs
I always figured that if Daniel ever went missing I would fall apart. Disintegrate. Cease to function. I honestly didn't believe that I could live without him. But then Pend'ra asks for a hug and Hess needs help with her homework (bless the girl who does homework even when I don't assign her anything) and Aki…Aki needs everything.
So I get up in the morning. I make breakfast. I play with the kids. I assign them homework. I give them lunch. I put Pend'ra down for a nap. I give Aki his therapy. I make dinner. I put them to bed. Then I fall apart.
I worry about Hess. Twelve is a bad age to lose a father. Any age is a bad one. But she is becoming a teenager, and he's not going to be there for her. Aki doesn't understand the loss. He's not really capable of it. He understands the lack of his father, but not the loss. He doesn't get that it's going to be preeminent. This has nothing to do with the fact that he is nine, but has everything to do with the fact that he is Aki. Pend'ra doesn't really understand it either, but that is because she is five. Some days she gets it, and she cries. Other days she sits by the window and waits for him to come home. It takes everything I have within me not to join her.
Dan'yel come home to us!
Robots killed him. It's the sort of thing you can't even say in public. When people ask me how I lost my husband I have to lie to them. Or just tell them it is classified, and ignore the strange looks they give me wondering what an Archeologist was doing on a classified Air Force mission. Saving the world, again.
Thank goodness for Catherine. She comes sometimes, without being asked. I haven't the heart to ask her, because he was her son just as surely as he was my husband. But she comes, and takes care of them while I lie down on the bed and grieve.
She lets me hold it together. I have to hold it together, my kids need me.
Daniel's POV
February 2002
Colorado Springs
Ascension. Knowledge. Separation. Abandoning. Me, the abandoner?
Death. Nothingness. Separation. Another kind of abandonment.
I can't do that to them. Doesn't she understand that? I can't do that to my kids. But she doesn't understand that. She can't understand that, because she is an ascended being, and ascended beings don't have offspring.
She lets me come back anyway.
Jack gasps, wraps me up in a flag, and contacts my wife.
Home.
Daniel's POV
Colorado Springs
May 2001
Sha're hasn't loosened her grip on me since I walked through the gate. I guide her to my private quarters.
"Sha're are you ok?" I ask.
"They told me you were dead," she says holding me even tighter.
"I'm not dead."
"You were gone so long."
"Sha're, I would have come back to you. I…"I close my eyes for a long second, "I…didn't have my memory."
"Dan'yel?" she asks carefully, "When you didn't have your memory…"
"No," I say firmly as I shake my head, "No, I didn't cheat on you."
"I was going to ask if you were hurt," she says, and now she looks like she is worried about the cheating.
"I couldn't remember everything, but I do remember I kept talking about you and the kids. Oma didn't want me to come back to you."
She smiles, "I don't want to live without you." She says quite seriously. I run my fingers through her hair slowly and carefully.
"Sha're? Do you want me to find another job?"
"No, I just don't want you to be in danger again."
"They go together."
She looks at me seriously, "I love you enough to go through that hell if it makes you happy. But you'd better not ever leave us."
"How are the kids?"
"Hess is so grown up. Early on, when I wasn't…" she looks ashamed, "I didn't do much more than keep them alive those first few days. Hess just kept doing her lessons. I assigned Davie work when Sam brought him over too," I say with a smile. "I tried to give Aki work too, but he wouldn't do it. He didn't do well with the schedule change. He had your picture on the calendar, and when you didn't come he got furious."
"I'm sorry, Sha're," I say.
"You're alive, Daniel, you don't have anything to apologize for."
Sha're's POV
June 2003
Colorado Springs
You don't think you would ever get used to the phone calls. The ones that tell you need to come in and see your husband, because he has some weird alien problem. But you do. The panic that rises up inside of you gets a little bit less each time. You know he has survived a million things like this, so you just take it for granted that he is going to survive this one as well. Which is scary, because he really is in danger. I'm superstitious enough to believe that he might actually need me be scared.
I walk in to the room they are keeping him in.
"Who is responsible for this? I demand to know why this has happened!" he turns to me as I enter the room with Dr. Fraiser by my side, "Why am I a prisoner?" he demands pulling at the restraints which tie him to the bed.
"Those may be removed when you decide to calm down," Fraiser says calmly.
"Calm? How do you expect me to be calm? I was promised that nothing like this could happen! That nothing could go wrong!" Daniel demands. I don't know what is going on, but I do know that that man is not my husband. What if he has a Goa'uld? I know that they can be removed now. My mother, Vala, they are proof of this. But still…that is something I did not want my husband to have to go through.
"Okay, let's start there. Can you tell me what has gone wrong?" Dr. Fraiser says calmly.
"What has gone wrong? What has gone wrong? What has gone wrong? Well, for a start you are not a member of my staff and that!" Daniel points to himself in the mirror in furry, "Is not me!"
"What have you done with my husband?" I scream. Dr. Fraiser gives me a glare which I ignore. "Where is he?" I demand approaching him.
"Sha're! Leave the room!" Dr. Fraiser demands. The only reason I obey is the Airmen who would most certainly help me obey should I have refused.
I go into the observation room where Teal'c and Hammond are.
"What happened?" I ask.
"We were on a ship. Something caused us to lose consciousness. We when woke up Daniel was not acting like himself," Teal'c offers.
"But is he a Goa'uld?" Hammond asks.
Fraiser walks into the observation room, "No, Sir, but at the moment he's every bit as arrogant."
I breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, another part of me realizes that this might just mean that it is going to be a lot harder to cure.
"Then is Dr. Jackson suffering from some sort of mental illness?" Hammond asks. We've been down this road before. They thought that Daniel was crazy, but it was just some alien technology that was making him act crazy. If they try to drug him up and put him in a mental hospital again, I am going to fight it, and fight it hard.
"I honestly don't know yet, Sir. His preliminary ECG readings are like nothing I've ever seen. On one hand, there's indication of coma, but at the same time, we're seeing readings like those of a dozen people all jumbled together," she says.
"Is his condition life threatening?" Hammond asks causing my stomach to tighten into a tight coil.
"Couldn't even guess," Fraiser says.
"He is claiming to be a passenger from the crashed alien vessel we discovered on the planet. All of the passengers were in a form of stasis," Teal'c supplies.
"How is that possible?" Hammond asks concerned.
"I have no idea, Sir, but Teal'c is right, and I think that we're dealing with more than one passenger. By that, I mean that Daniel's behavior in the Gate room and throughout the preliminary testing was distinctly different than his current behavior. I'd say that we've witnessed two, maybe even three separate personalities," Dr. Fraiser informs us.
"Could there be more?" Hammond asks.
"We discovered several hundred passengers in cryogenic suspension," Teal'c informs us.
Whoever is currently in my husband's body sends a container of liquid crashing into the two way mirror.
Later
"Daniel? Are you even in there?" I ask him.
"Just find the small woman and tell her what she gave me wasn't good enough. It isn't working!" he says rubbing his head. He's been complaining of a headache the whole time I have been with him. "Do you speak?" he sneers.
Dr. Fraiser enters the room, "How are you feeling now?" she asks him.
"Your medicine is worthless."
"You still in pain?" she asks. I wonder if Daniel is in pain. I mean the man who has his body is, but I wonder if somewhere under that my Dan'yel is fighting and hurting and wondering why we are all looking at him like he is some type of criminal.
"This body must be damaged," the person in Daniel's body says.
"I doubt that. Dr. Jackson was in perfect health," Dr. Fraiser replies.
"I assume Dr. Jackson was the former…" he looks down at my husband's body, "…Not that I have anything against it mind you. It's younger and stronger than my own. And apparently it comes with a pretty woman," he sneers at me. I raise my hand to slap him, but Dr. Fraiser shakes her head at me, besides it would probably result in Daniel feeling the pain, "Did something happen to my own body?" the person occupying Daniel's body continues, "In times of disaster people need their Sovereign to look up to. How will they recognize me now?"
"I've already told you we didn't do this," Dr. Frasier says.
Daniel's body screams, "How else could I have arrived in this situation!"
"We don't know." Dr. Fraser says carefully.
Daniel acts threatening toward Fraiser, and an Airman ushers me out of the room. By the time I get into the observation room I hear Daniels' voice sounding very different and saying, "No. No, Martice is the Sovereign. I'm…I'm just a crew member." He sees his face in the two way mirror that I am currently using as a window, "Who is that?" He walks over and touches various parts of his face in fascination and alarm, "How can this be?"
"It's all right, I'm here to help you," Dr. Frasier says calmingly.
"No, no, this is wrong! This is a mistake!" the new Daniel says with alarm.
"Yes, it is, one that we want to correct. I'm Dr. Fraiser," she says.
"I am Tryan, engineer, second rank," my husband's body's new hijacker says.
"All right, Tryan. Why don't we start again?" she says.
"Again?" the man says questioning."
Later
"Well, it may be possible to upload your consciousness back into that memory," Dr. Frasier says to Tryan, who is still using my husband's body.
"No, each module can store only one consciousness," he cautions.
"Then do it one at a time."
"No, that's not possible. Here," he walks over to a glass of water which he stares at in his hand, "Could these same water molecules ever be returned to this glass just as they were before, no more, no less, in precisely the same configuration?" He pours the water back into the jug.
"No." Fraiser admits. But this is all wrong. There has to be a way to save my husband. There is always a way to save them.
"Our minds have been blended together, poured into one vessel ill-equipped to sustain our volume."
"But if the computers onboard your ship can separate the human consciousness from the body, then surely they can isolate the?" Dr. Fraiser says moving closer to Tryan to comfort him.
"Can you hear that?" Tryan asks.
"No, I can't hear anything."
"The others. Their voices. I can hear them. They're getting louder."
"Tryan, look, I need you to stay with me, all right? We need to work together on this."
"It's a most incredible feeling," he says with a kind smile on his face that Daniel never made those lips wear
"I doubt the others can help as much as you can."
"No one can help."
"Don't say that!" Dr. Fraiser demands.
"They're pulling at me now. I don't know how long…" he makes a sound that indicates he's in great pain.
Suddenly Daniel opens his eyes, "Janet?" he says in confusion. I run into the medical isolation room as quickly as I can.
"Look, something has happened, I need you to just stay with me okay? Just hang in there," Dr. Fraiser is telling him.
"Sha're," he says with a smile, "Everything is going to be ok." And he's gone as soon as the words leave his mouth.
Later
This new personality reminds me of Pend'ra.
"I don't think we've had a chance to meet." Dr. Fraiser says to it.
"Where's my father?" Daniel asks in the voice of a scared little child.
"I'm sorry, I—I don't know. Do you mind if I sit down beside you?" The little kid inside of Daniel nods his head. "Okay,' she says slowly walking over to him.
Daniel's body gives a nervous glance at the Airmen in the room, "What about them?" he whispers.
"Oh, no, they won't hurt you. Tell you what? Why don't I tell you everything I know and then we'll just take it from there, okay? What's your name?"
"Keenin." He says in a reluctant voice.
"Keenin? That's a very nice name. I'm Dr. Fraiser. Keenin, we're trying to figure out everything we can about how this happened. What's the last thing you remember?"
"My father," he tells her. "I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay on Talthus."
"So you had to leave?"
"They knew it was going to happen since a long time before I was born. Do you know what a dark star is?"
"Mm-hmm. One that's burned out its fuel."
"They said it would pass close enough to our sun to make it flare and that it would engulf Talthus. I knew my whole life that the world was gonna end."
"So your people built the Stromos?"
"They built three ships, including the Stromos, but it wasn't enough. They had a lottery. They said that was the only fair way. But my father was an officer on the Stromos. He was allowed to pick one person from his family. And m-m-my mother made him choose me," the little kid says crying out of my husband's eyes.
"It's all right," Dr. Fraiser says offering him comfort.
"My mother said that she would take her chance with the lottery, but she wasn't chosen. The Sovereigns were chosen, but she wasn't chosen. No one I know was chosen. I wanted to stay with her," Keenin lays Daniel's head down on Dr. Fraiser's lap. She strokes his hair.
"It's okay. Ssshhh. It's all right. It's all right. Ssshhh. It's okay."
Suddenly the hand on Dr. Fraiser's lab coat clenches, and Daniel's voice sounds a different kind of strange as he says, "What are you doing…?"
"Martice?" Dr. Fraiser says rather disoriented by the quick change.
"You may address me as Sovereign and I will ask you never to do that again. Now, what have you done to resolve this?" the man demands with Daniel's voice.
Later
"Tell them to stop shouting. It is unbearable!" Martice says with my husband's voice.
"I can't hear them," Dr. Fraiser says concerned.
"Be silent!" he shouts.
"They're in your mind, Martice," she informs him.
"No, no, no, no! What you're saying cannot be so. I have responsibilities to attend to, I—I cannot remain here."
"You cannot leave!"
"A thousand of our people depend on me to lead them, I am the Sovereign. They have sworn an oath to me!"
"I'm sorry," she says, but she doesn't really sound sorry for him. She did sound genuinely sorry for the kid.
"It is my destiny to rule over Ardena."
"Listen, you don't understand the seriousness of your condition."
He raises his hand at her, "And you still do not realize who you are talking to!"
Dr. Fraiser screams back "I don't give a damn! You don't belong in that man's body and I intend to take it back!"
Daniel looks like he is in an unbelievable amount of pain, and I'm really hoping Daniel isn't feeling it. "Please, why does it hurt so much?"
Dr. Frasier prepares to give him some medicine, but all of a sudden Daniel's body stands up looking quite calm and collected, "That won't be necessary, Dr. Frasier. I seem to have a higher threshold for pain then the others."
"Tryan?"
"Yes."
"Oh, thank God for that!"
Sam comes in requesting to see Janet in the hall. They leave for a minute, and they come back in with someone I've never seen before. But apparently Tryan has. "Officer Pharrin, Sir! Engineer Tryan, second rank," he says giving a low bow.
"Tryan? Of course! Of all of our crew, you would've thought this was not possible," the new man says.
"And of all of our crew, Sir, you're the one who'd find a way to do it. How did you manage?"
"Our training and a shared will to survive. It is a strange way of living with others, but it is better than the alternative."
"What of our ship and our passengers, Sir?"
Pharrin moves closer to Tryan, "Our ship crash landed. We failed to reach Ardena. Her passengers may yet be saved, but not without considerable sacrifice, to you and to the others of the Stromos that reside within you."
"I understand, Sir."
"These people possess a device capable of transporting all our people to another world, perhaps even Ardena. It is very real and it will save our people. But in exchange they ask that their friend be returned to them as he was before. I believe it can be done if we act quickly. It is a reasonable bargain."
"I will do whatever is necessary, Sir. Whatever you ask of me," Tryan says stoically. But all of a sudden Daniel is yelling, "No! There will be no sacrifice of any kind! Officer Pharrin, as your Sovereign I demand that you return me to the ship immediately!"
Pharrin falls to his knees and bows.
"Pharrin!" Sam scolds.
"We have sworn an oath to do his will. We cannot proceed," he explains.
"Officer Pharrin? I've given you a command. Do you understand me?" Daniel demands.
"Get up!" Jack demands entering the room.
"I've sworn to protect the Sovereign!" Pharrin says looking up at him.
Jack pulls him to his feet, "Your Sovereign's dead!"
"But his soul lives on!"
"Not if I cut him out!" Jack threatens. It's an empty threat. Jack is not in any way capable of brain surgery, and no one on earth could do the task he is proposing.
"You would not," Pharrin sneers.
"Oh, yes, I would," Jack threatens.
"Pharrin, you listen to me!" Daniel's voices demand.
"Don't listen! You just do what you came here to do!"
"Forgive us, Sovereign. It is the only way to protect our people," Pharrin says submissively."
"I will not surrender this body, not at any cost! It is mine!" Daniel shouts as Martice.
"It was never ours to begin with!" Tryan responds with a shout. It is really disconcerting to watch my husband argue with himself.
"If you save anyone, you will save me!" Martice demands.
"The people of Talthus will die!" Tryan says.
"Let them!" Right, this guy hanging out in my husband's body sounds like a real gem.
"Forgive me, Sovereign!" Pharrin says desperately.
"How dare you touch me!" Martice says truly offended.
"For twelve years, we have fought to save the people of Talthus, and we will do everything in our power to do so! No matter how great the sacrifice."
"Father?" Keenin asks in that tiny voice of his.
"Keenin?" Pharrin gasps, "I am so sorry, my son. You must sacrifice as well, and we will be together. Do you understand?" Pharrin is crying.
"The people of Talthus will be safe. And they will remember us forever," Pharrin says his voice growing stronger."
"But we'll be together?" Keenin asks desperately.
"We'll be together," Pharrin assures him, crying over his promise.
Daniel's POV
June 2003
Colorado Springs
"Do you remember any of it?" Sam asks me.
"No," I say. But I can tell that it was bad. I can tell because they wouldn't let me leave the infirmary even after I told them I was ok. Also they are wearing their super-serious faces.
Sha're walks in, "Hey, love," I call over.
She comes to stand near me, but doesn't let me touch her quite yet. "Are you yourself?" she asks.
"Yeah, what did I do?" I ask.
"You shared your brain with twelve people," she says. "There are videos."
"Twelve people?" I ask in shock.
"Some were jerks," she responds.
"I didn't hurt anyone did I?" I ask in sudden panic.
"No, we didn't let you hurt anyone," she says giving me a kiss on my forehead.
"I'm back to you, I promise," I assure her.