Sorry for the delay everyone. We had family in for the weekend.
Chapter 21
"Daniel!"
Daniel jumped at Jack's shout dropping the book he had just pulled from one of the many bookshelves that lined his office walls.
"Damn it, Jack!" he glared at the older man, "Stop doing that!"
Not looking the least bit contrite Jack entered the office and walked to Daniel's desk. "What have you got?"
"Nothing," he said in frustration. He joined Jack at his desk and set the book down.
"Nothing?" Jack looked at him surprise. "Really?"
Daniel threw up his hands in exasperation. "Yes! I have looked in my books, on the internet, even in our previous mission files and everything says what we all ready know."
"She's the Avenger of Ra, Destroyer of man, blah, blah, blah."
"Yeah." Daniel crossed his arms over his chest and bowed his head considering his next words. "The thing is…I remember more about this goa'uld than…well…what I remember isn't in these books." He looked at Jack, his eyes filled with confusion. "I didn't read it, no one told me about it. I just know things."
"Like what?"
"Well, for starters…It took over a hundred Jaffa to incubate Sekhmet before she reached maturity."
"Why so many?"
"She killed them. Sekhmet was so mentally unstable and filled with bloodlust that she kept devouring the Jaffa from the inside out."
"Ewww."
Daniel nodded his agreement. "Once she did reach maturity it took three hundred years and countless hosts before one could be found that could contain her. It was said that the worst enemies of Ra would be given to Sekhmet as a host. Few survived more than a few days."
"How do you know all this?"
"That's it. I don't know how!" he said, clearly frustrated. "I just know it."
Unable to provide any insight into Daniel's problem, Jack changed the subject. "Did you talk to Jacob yet?"
"No. He is still in the General's office." He ran a hand over tired eyes as he sat down in his chair.
Jack leaned on his desk and studied him a moment. "Not sleeping either, huh?"
"Sleeping, yes. Sleeping well? Not really."
Jack looked at him curiously waiting for Daniel to elaborate.
"I keep dreaming that I am on Abydos."
Sadness and understanding filled Jack's eyes when he spoke. "Sha're?"
"No." Daniel smiled sadly at the mention of his dead wife. "It is after that. When I was first ascended I think I spent a lot of time on Abydos just…….well, wandering….thinking. But in the dream I am searching for something….and it's important, Jack…..but no matter what I do I can't find it there."
"Well….since Anubis went and blew Abydos up…. I mean don't you think your subconscious mind would know that?"
"Maybe." He let out a frustrated sigh and glared at the book on his desk as if willing it to give him the information he sought.
Jack watch the young man for awhile but soon his usual restless nature got the best of him and he began picking up various artifacts turning them over in his hands then putting them back down.
Daniel noticed the Colonel's restless movements and figured there was more to Jack's visit then just getting an update. "Jack, what's really bugging you?"
"What?" He looked up from a small idol of some ancient god from some ancient land that he really could care less about. "Oh! Ya mean other than Carter is missing, the Tok'ra have stabbed us in the back, and we have another really nasty goa'uld on the radar?"
"Yeah, other than that."
Jack gave him annoyed look, 'Damn kid was too good at reading him.'
Daniel waited patiently knowing he wouldn't get anything done until Jack sorted through whatever it was that was bothering him.
Jack had no idea what he wanted to say. Did he want to talk about Sam? Was he ready too? "I….uh….is there anything I can do to help you?" God! He was such a chicken shit!
Daniel smiled slightly, "Yeah." He waved his hand toward one of the bookcases on the far side of his office. "I…..dropped an artifact yesterday and haven't had a chance to pick it up."
The archeologist looked a little uncomfortable as he was speaking, peaking Jack curiosity. He walked over to the bookcase and glanced down at the "dropped" artifact. It was actually a smashed artifact. Various sized pieces of baked clay were scattered across the floor creating a huge mess that Jack could not believe Daniel had actually left there. Lying haphazardly among the rocks…and they were rocks thank you very much……was the book that Daniel had found Sam's note about Sekhmet in. He looked back at the archeologist, his brow raised in question. "Dropped, huh?" Daniel flushed in embarrassment at what had obviously been a loss of his temper. "You want to talk about it?" Jack asked.
"Do you want to talk about Sam?" the young man asked as he opened the book on his desk.
"No." he said gruffly and grabbed a nearby wastebasket. Kneeling down he began picking up the pieces of clay and depositing them into the basket. He grabbed a hold of a piece about the size of his palm then dropped it quickly with a yelp of pain.
Daniel looked up from the dusty tome he was reading. "You okay?"
Jack looked down at a small cut on the middle finger of his hand in irritation. "Your rock bit me!" He gingerly picked up the offending piece scowling at it like the damage it had inflicted was intentional.
Seeing that Jack was not bleeding to death or anything Daniel went back to studying his book.
Carefully so as not to cut himself again, Jack turned the rock over and noticed a faint imprint of some ancient language on the surface of the piece. It looked familiar…. He shook his head. 'Like I would understand some ancient alien language' he thought. He continued to turn the piece around in his hand when something shiny caught his eye. "Uh….Daniel?"
With a sigh the young man looked at Jack. "Yes, Jack….do you need a Band-Aid?"
Jack glared at him. "There is something inside your "dropped" artifact."
"Really?" Daniel turned in his chair and held out his hand for the broken piece. Jack passed it over and the archeologist turned it over in his hand studying the strange metal closely. "That's weird."
"Ya think?"
Ignoring the Colonel's sarcastic remark he kept his attention on the artifact. "I don't recognize this metal…" he said now deep in thought. "Maybe Sam can run a few tests…" his voice faded out as he realized what he said. He looked up to Jack in regret, "Sorry," he mumbled. He ran his fingers lightly over the surface of the metal. "Ouch!"
Jack shook his head in mild amusement. "Monkey see. Monkey do." Daniel glared at him which only prompted Jack's smile to widen. He was about to rib him further when the young man's face suddenly paled.
Daniel's eyes grew wide in panic when felt something pulling at his consciousness, "Jack?"
Jack barely caught him as he fell forward the rock falling from his limp fingers and rolling across the room. A low hum filled the room and the rock began to glow. Jack threw himself over Daniel's body when the rock emitted a pulse of light that shot through the ceiling of Daniel's office then dimmed to its original form.
Reaching up and grabbing the phone on Daniel's desk he hit the number for the infirmary and yelled into the phone. "I need a medical team to Daniel Jackson's office now!"
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The lights in Garshaw's lab flickered erratically prompting Sekhmet to still her movements within her tank. The screams of the Tauri woman had faded from her hearing when they rushed her away from the hallway near the lab. The light returned to normal so she flicked her tail and resumed the goa'uld equivalent of pacing swimming back and forth in her tank. If the Tauri woman was not dead she soon would be the creature thought triumphantly. Vain Tauri bitch! Believing she could conquer the mind of a Goddess!
Sekhmet swam in agitated circles as she cursed the woman further. Only one being had ever been able to contain her undeniable power and it certainly was not a human female.
The only light in the darkness of Sekhmet's soul had been that host. He had brought peace to her chaos…..calmed her madness. With his help she had been able to become what the other goa'uld only pretended to be……..a True Goddess.
The only other being capable of containing her had been one of her own creation and it lay somewhere in this complex of twisting tunnels.
The light flickered again and the she felt ground beneath her tank began to shake violently. She swam to the glass trying to see what was happening. Several Tok'ra ran past the entrance of the lab, but none came into the lab itself. Another violent shift in the floor rocked her tank throwing her against the glass wall of the tank. Awareness faded as she slid to the bottom.
The complex rocked again as an explosion tore into the base. Outside in the corridor the panicked Tok'ra never heard the heavy crash or the shattering of glass as the entire cell base was plunged into darkness.
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Jack watch apprehensively as Janet's team worked on Daniel's body hooking the young man up to a myriad of beeping machines.
Janet looked up from her patient and looked over to the Colonel. "What happened?" she demanded.
"Ya got me, doc," Jack shrugged. "One minute he's checking out a broken rock, the next he goes all white in the face and out he went." She frowned at him then pulled her infamous pen light from the pocket of her white coat. She checked Daniel's pupils.
She turned back to her patient dismissing the Colonel from mind.
Jack paced just beyond the bed that Daniel was lying on waiting to find out what was going on or to be tossed out when the doc finally remembered him.
Janet had no idea why Daniel was not waking up. She checked all of Daniel's vitals. Pupil response, heart rate, breathing….everything was fine. From what she could tell he was simply sleeping.
"Doctor Frasier?"
"Yes, Lt. Bates?"
The Lt. turned Daniel's left hand over revealing a small cut on his palm. Janet looked at it for a moment then called out to the Colonel.
"Colonel O'Neill?"
"Yeah Doc."
"Do you know where this cut came from?" she asked nodding her head toward the cut on Daniel's hand.
Jack walked over and looked down at the archeologist palm. "Yep, he cut it on a piece of metal that was inside his rock."
"Why didn't you tell me? It could be relevant to his losing consciousness."
The Colonel held up his hand revealing a similar cut on the second digit of his middle finger. Resisting the urge to fold down the other fingers and leaving the middle up alone he held out hand instead. "Same thing happened to me…and I'm still standing," he said matter-of-factly. Janet grabbed his hand none too gently and inspected the cut closely.
"Lt. Bates. Will you get me a pre-dosed tetanus shot for the Colonel?"
"Ah, come on Doc!" Jack exclaimed angrily. "Why do I need a shot?"
"It was metal. The tetanus shot is standard procedure," Janet said unfazed by Jack's protests. "You know that."
He did, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to gripe about it. He really hated shots! "What about Daniel?"
"Lt. Bates will administer it to him", Janet replied as Lt. Bates handed her one of the two syringes she was holding. Jack gave the young officer a dirty look as Janet pushed him firmly toward a curtained off bed.
Grumbling under his breath, he preceded the evil little woman behind the curtain and began unbuckling his the belt to his fatigues in irritation.
"Colonel," Janet began as he pulled down his pants revealing the upper area of his buttocks.
"Just do it." He said angrily.
Shrugging her shoulders she stabbed the needle into his right butt cheek and injected the medication. She then pulled a band-aid from her pocket and with a mischievous glint in eyes applied it to the shot area.
"There you go Colonel." She said with a smile and went back to see the sleeping scientist.
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Breeshan felt Pha'esh's presence nudging weakly against his mind. 'Wake up, Breeshan.' The young man resisted, not wanting to leave the comfort the unconsciousness held. Unfortunately the symbiote was insistent. Breeshan allowed Pha'esh to pull him toward consciousness and instantly regretted it. Intense pain shot through his body making him dizzy and nauseous.
'Lie still!' Pha'esh demanded."What happened? Are you all right?' he asked worriedly.
'I am fine, but you are gravely damaged, Breeshan. You must hold still until help arrives.'
Breeshan nodded his head then moaned weakly when pain lanced through his head. He opened his eyes tentatively, but only darkness greeted him. 'What happened?'
'The console overloaded and exploded''And I assume the darkness means we lost power.' He looked for even a tiny source of light to help him see, but gave up quickly. 'What about Garshaw, Anise and their hosts?'
'I do not know.'
Breeshan tried to call to the other two Tok'ra, but his voice only came out as a groan.
'Breeshan! I said to stay still!'Breeshan did not reply but decided to do as he was told. He closed his eyes giving up on trying to see anything in the darkness. Everything was silent and he had almost fallen asleep when he felt something bump up against his calf. Fingers lightly brushed his leg sending sharp stabbing pain up the entire length. He gritted his teeth against the pain, but a moan still escaped his lips. The fingers went away then returned a moment later gently making their way up to his knee. The fingers reached thigh a few inches above his knee and stopped.
"Aveo?" a gentle voice called out. Breeshan tried to respond but couldn't find the energy to actually speak. "Commdo asordo?" The voice spoke louder, but only silence greeted it.
Breeshan wondered who the person could be. He had never heard the language before and had no idea what the person had said. He moved slightly and immediately regretted it.
A firm hand applied pressure to his chest to keep him still.
"Nullus agito." The voice commanded. "Tui cozar columis. Ego indeo fascia priusquam tu enim agito."
Despite not understanding a word his unknown helper said, Breeshan understood the meaning. 'Don't move.' The mysterious hand moved from his chest back down to his leg feeling around the injury. He could hear the person muttering under their breath, but was unable to make any of it out. Then one word stood out among the others.
"Damno!"
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Daniel opened his eyes to find himself standing in the middle of the Abydonian desert. A warm breeze wafted around him, rustling the native garments he wore and cooling his heated skin. He looked around in confusion, alert to his surrounding.
"Hello Daniel."
Daniel spun around and stepped back into a defensive position ready to defend himself.
A man of average height stood a few feet from him dressed in similar clothing as himself. Ancient brown eyes regarded him with amusement as he spoke.
"I see Jack has been giving you tips again," he said, a smile on his lips.
"You know Jack?" he asked skeptically.
"Jonathon O'Neill, Colonel in the USAF. Excellent officer, great friend…." The man smiled at him. "And an all around pain in the ass."
"Obviously you've met then." The archeologist replied dryly. Daniel frowned at the young man. Then his eyes widen in surprise as he studied the man. "You're an Ancient?" he asked in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"
"You called me."
"Um….no…..I didn't."
Confusion creased the youthful face, then cleared as understanding dawned. "I am sorry. I forgot that Oma erased your time among us from your conscious mind when she put you back in your human body." Daniel jerked back as the man reached forward to touch him. "I will not hurt you, Daniel. In fact…you and I are friends."
When the man reached forward again Daniel held still and allowed him to lightly touch his forehead. He closed his eyes as his mind was flooded with hundreds of closed off memories from his time among the ascended. He opened his eyes and looked at the man in astonishment.
"Marcreat!"
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Sam opened her eyes to find herself immersed in complete darkness. She did a mental check of her body and found that she ached all over. 'Okay…..' she thought, 'I can deal with this.' She tried to see something…anything, but the darkness was total. 'All right. I can't see….' She closed her eyes and concentrated on her hearing. At first she could only hear silence then a slight rustling nearby followed by a low moan caught her ears. She slowly sat up checking to make sure everything was working properly. 'So far so good.' She thought.
Keeping her eyes closed she let her other senses give her an idea of her surroundings. Silence again. She sniffed the air. The acrid scent of smoke caught her attention. Smoke….burnt metal and….blood.
'Damn!'
Sam prepared herself for the onslaught of blood lust that signified the presence of Sekhmet's presence in her mind.
Nothing.
She searched her mind….the memories were there…but their power was gone.
Another groan caught her attention and she carefully slid off the table she was sitting on. Her legs felt weak, but they held her up so she wasn't going to complain. She carefully picked her way forward allowing her instincts to guide her to the sound. After what seemed an eternity her foot bumped against something soft. She knelt down and touched what she was sure was a leg. The owner of the leg moaned in pain. Going on touch alone Sam felt her way up the leg as gently as she could looking for injury. By the feel of the muscles under her hands she was pretty sure the person was a man. In the man's upper thigh she felt a jagged piece of metal deeply imbedded in his flesh. 'Not good.' She thought. She tried vainly to see something in the darkness; it would be so much easier to help the man if she could see something.
"Hello?" she called out softly. No answer. She called out again more loudly this time. "Is anyone there?"
The man beneath her hands began to stir. She reached one of her hands and placed it where she was pretty sure his chest would be. "Don't move. Your leg is in bad shape and I need to patch you up before you start moving around."
The man stilled, but the way he tensed up at her voice convinced her that he couldn't understand a word she was saying. She continued to feel around the wound as gently as she could. The material over the leg was soaked with blood and it was obvious that more was steadily seeping around the wound. "Okay Sam. You need to think….what can you do to stop the sense told her that there was nothing she could do. If she left the metal in the wound the man would slowly bleed to death…if she pulled it out he would be dead within minutes. If only she could bind the wound around the metal, but it was too big. It was impossible.
"Damn!"
The man beneath her hands jerked and a second later she heard his voice. "Sa…man…tha?"
Sam's blood ran cold at his voice. "Breeshan?" 'God no!' Knowing she could do nothing for a stranger had been bad enough, but she and Breeshan had become friends….
She frantically began feeling around the wound looking for any way to stop the blood that was now coating her hands. Tears filled her eyes at the fruitlessness of her actions.
Breeshan was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it.
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Jack sat sentinel in the ever present plastic chair watching the quiet form of Daniel Jackson sleep. According to the Doc the tests had come back showing that a mild sedative had been injected into Daniel's body when he had cut his hand, causing the young man to fall asleep. The same drug had been found in Jack's system as well, but for some reason the Colonel had remained unaffected by it. No other side effects had been found. All of Daniel's tests showed that he was just fine. He was simply asleep.
Jack shifted uncomfortably in the hard chair. 'Janet really needs to get more comfortable chairs in here. A recliner would be nice…..'
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the infirmaries door opening. Jacob and Teal'c entered the room and joined him at Daniel's bedside.
Teal'c stood at the end of the bed while Jacob grabbed another chair and set it on the side opposite of Jack. Leaning toward the young man in the bed he looked up at Jack. "How long has he been out?" he asked.
"About thirty minutes."
"Doctor Fraiser seemed confident that Daniel Jackson is not in any physical danger," Teal'c stated.
"Yeah." Jack glanced down at the still form of his friend. He had a hard time believing that the only purpose of the virus was to simply put someone asleep.
Teal'c watched O'Neill and noticed the frown on his face. "You are not convinced of Doctor Fraiser diagnosis," the Jaffa observed.
The Colonel looked up at the large man and shook his head. "I just find it hard to believe that the only purpose of that metal thing-a-ma-jig was to put Daniel asleep--and what about that burst of light it shot out?"
"No one knows," Jacob answered. "No damage was done. From what we can tell it simply shot up through the SGC and into the night sky. George has notified NORAD to keep a look out just in case it was a signal of some kind….but at this point…" the retired General shrugged his shoulders.
A movement from the bed caught their attention as Daniel shifted slightly in his sleep and a frown marred his features. He murmured something incomprehensible in his sleep his frown deepening as he spoke. The men listened carefully hoping to get some idea of what was going on with the archeologist. Daniel shifted again and murmured another word that they could make out.
"Marcreat."
Jacob abruptly sat back as if Daniel had struck him.
Jack scowled at the older man's reaction to a word he had never heard before. "What's a marcreat?"
"Not a what, Jack. It's a who," he said, his voice filled with worry.
Jack gave him an irritated look motioning with his hand for Jacob to continue.
"Marcreat was Sekhmet's host."
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Daniel looked at the ascended Ancient in amazement as the memories of his year among the ascended became clearer. Misty images solidified into coherent memories giving him a complete record of his time as an ancient. He smiled at his ascended friend. Marcreat had been a solid presence during his first months among the ascended Ancients and it was good to see him.
"Thanks. It was difficult only having pieces of the last year instead of the whole."
Marcreat shook his head. "It is only temporary Daniel. Just for our conversation. The majority of if will be gone when you awake."
Disappointment filled Daniel at his friend's words. "Then why…"
"Sekhmet has finally completed her work, Daniel."
"Damn, that is not good. We have to find her."
"That knowledge will be in your hands soon."
"So the beacon worked?"
"Yes." Marcreat lifted his head to the skies of Abydos. "Sam's part is about to begin."
Daniel nodded. "How is she handling all of this?"
Marcreat's eyes showed awe and respect as he answered his friend, "She is a fighter."
Daniel nodded. "She always has been. That's why she was chosen. Are there any changes in the original plan?"
"No. You will only remember about the book; the rest will leave you when you leave here."
"Figures. I was really hoping the others would have loosened up a bit considering the circumstances."
"The Ascended Ones have not 'loosened up' in millions of years," Marcreat said, the earth term sounding odd coming from his lips. "I am surprised we were allowed what we were."
"As long as everything we were allowed has followed what was set up…." Daniel stopped speaking when he noticed that Marcreat had begun to fidget. "What?" he asked not sure he wanted to know.
The Ancient looked a little uncomfortable under Daniel's scrutiny. "There has been a slight….uh…. complication with Samantha."
"What complication?" The archeologist felt a tingle of unease go up his spine. Marcreat did not answer immediately and Daniel could feel his apprehension growing. "Marcreat! What went wrong?"
"I am not sure I would say it went wrong…so much as it did not go according to plan."
"Damn it, Marcreat," Daniel growled. "If Sam has been hurt…."
"You knew there would be pain involved, Daniel."
"Yeah. Sekhmet's memories would have been hard on Sam, but…"
"The memories are killing her."
"Remove them!"
"Daniel, if I had removed the memories then there was no way we could have stopped Sekhmet's research from falling into…."
"I don't give a damn about the research…..wait…..what do you mean 'if you had'? What did you do?"
"When a goa'uld infests a host their body chemistries may combine. Most symbiotes prevent this, but when I was host to Sekhmet, with her mental instability, she did not do it."
"Are you telling me that Sekhmet has ancient DNA in her body?" he asked angrily. "And you did not tell me this little bit of information….." Daniel suddenly stopped when a terrifying idea came to mind. "Can Sekhmet ascend?"
"No!" Marcreat said firmly. "The symbiote body is not compatible with Ancient DNA. It simply lies dormant within her chemical makeup."
"But it is compatible with human DNA." Daniel's mind ran through the possibilities trying to think of what solution the Ancient might have attempted. "Marcreat what did you do to Sam?"