Teal'c watched as the two doctors argued briefly over the treatment of Jonas Quinn. He had no experience in the matter, and so felt a cold helplessness. It was obvious to him that none of Doctor Frasier's treatments had worked, but this Dr. Van Huisen was unknown to him.

As he watched Dr. Frasier scurry away to get the drugs that the stranger had requested, Teal'c reminded himself that it would be unacceptable to kill this doctor should his treatment fail. In truth, Teal'c was unsure that any treatment could save his teammate.

It had been a blow when Dr. Frasier had told SG1that Jonas Quinn had likely been sick for some time prior to his collapse. When they went over the man's actions over the past month and a half, it was clear that things they had attributed to stress, or worse, mistaken because of erroneously comparing him to Daniel Jackson, were actually symptoms of the illness that was ravaging his body.

Major Carter in particular had been filled with remorse for what she saw as her neglect of their teammate. Neither he nor Colonel O'Neill had been able to dissuade her from her opinion. His own suspicious nature had caused him to ask if it was related to the poisoned candy, but the doctor had assured him that the anaphylactic attack could not have caused the illness.

Since Major Carter had discovered Jonas Quinn sitting quietly in the forest above the base, Teal'c had watched his friend deteriorate. Each day he saw a bit more of the intelligence leave the Kelownan's dulling eyes as he grew more and more passive, his body wasting away. All of Dr. Frasier's care had not turned the tide. Teal'c felt a wave of sadness looking at the man, knowing the end could not be long delayed.

As Dr. Frasier returned, he found Dr. Van Huisen staring at him, or more precisely, at his tattooed forehead. When caught staring, the doctor turned back to his patient. Supervising Dr. Frasier's injection of the medicine, he asked, "How long before the Diagase gets here?"

"Half hour, maybe forty minutes," Janet Frasier replied distractedly.

Van Huisen nodded his head. "Well, in the meantime, I'd like to talk to his friends. People he works with."

Janet raised her eyebrows, but Van Huisen was already headed around the bed, hand extended toward Teal'c. "Mr. Teal'c, is it? Do you fit the bill?"

Teal'c had long since learned the Earth custom of shaking hands, but he chose to ignore the hand, instead following his own custom, bowing slightly. "In both particulars."

The doctor recovered smoothly, performing his own bow. "Excellent. Is there somewhere we can talk? Janet, perhaps we could use your office?"

"Of course." Janet stood bemused, then seeing Teal'c's expression, said, "Go. I'll keep watch over Jonas."

Teal'c considered, then with a nod, followed the doctor to the office. Van Huisen led him into the office, saying, "Close the door behind you, please. Take a seat."

When they were both seated, the doctor smiled. "Okay, Mr. Teal'c, now, you're a friend of Jonas'? How long have you known him?"

"Since he first came to Stargate Command."

The doctor nodded then, after a pause, asked, "So you aren't from Kelowna?"

"No, I am not."

"Okay, because I saw that thing on your forehead and I thought maybe you were an alien too."

"I am from Chulak."

The doctor blinked. "Uh, is that in Africa?"

"It is a planet many light years from here."

The doctor stared for several seconds before continuing. "Okay. Um, all right. I can deal with that. Anyway, what can you tell me about Mr. Quinn's habits?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"What does he eat? Where does he eat? How often does he eat? Does he do drugs? Smoke? Drink?"

"Jonas Quinn eats whatever is made available to him. At Doctor Frasier's insistence, he eats many small meals a day. He neither smokes, drinks, nor takes illicit drugs."

Van Huisen looked at him as if waiting for more but Teal'c had answered the question, and felt no need to elaborate. Eventually the doctor sighed. "Okay, let's break it down then. What do you mean, he eats what is made available to him?"

"Jonas Quinn is restricted to this base. All of his meals are provided by the commissary."

"Ah! Now we're getting somewhere! Does the same person deliver his meals every day?"

Teal'c's eyes narrowed as he considered the question. "His meals are rarely delivered. He eats in the commissary as do I and most of the personnel on this base."

"Hmmm. Are there choices? Or is it a pre-planned meal?"

"There is a selection of entrees for each meal."

"Okay. Does he pick and choose, or does he stick with the same things?"

"When Jonas Quinn first arrived, he would only eat oatmeal, but Dr. Frasier convinced him to try other foods. Now he prefers to choose different foods at each meal."

"Yes, Dr. Frasier mentioned that. All right, let me ask you this: Does he keep snacks in his room? Candy, popcorn, things like that?"

"He will often take food to his quarters for later consumption, but he does not keep a supply."

"What about coffee? Does he have a coffeemaker in his quarters?"

"Caffeine affects him adversely. He does, however, drink an herbal tea prescribed by Dr. Frasier."

"Yes? Does he get that from the commissary, too?"

"No. He has a supply of teabags and a heating unit in his office."

"Bingo!" The doctor said under his breath. Looking Teal'c in the eye, he said, "Mr. Teal'c, can I trust you to keep something under your hat?"

"I am not wearing a hat."

"Ah… oh, excuse me. I mean can I tell you a secret? Something I don't want you to mention until we can check it out?"

"I have taken oaths of allegiance that I will not break. If this secret betrays my oaths, I will not keep it."

The doctor sighed. "Fine. Listen, I don't think your friend is sick per se. I think he's being poisoned."