Chapter 28 - Trouble
SG-1 arranged themselves in the gateroom as they always did. Jack and Dixon took the front row, usually followed by Daniel and Mckay, but in this case Daniel and Jordan. His old professor looked distinctly out of place to Daniel without a comfy suit or pair of canvas overalls. Taking up the rear was Teal'c, and Mckay dropped back to join him. Daniel glanced back at the gate dialed, and found Teal'c's face unreadable as Mckay fussed with his gadgets. This planet looked very nearly bare but out of habit, or perhaps for the sake of showing off around the guest, Mckay was treating it as if anything might happen.
The gate dialed, and Dr. Jordan couldn't help but jump back. Daniel smiled, recognizing the usual emotions of newcomers to this event. Jack turned once to give a nod to Hammond, and then he and Dixon walked through the gate.
"I never asked—does it hurt?" asked Jordan as he and Daniel walked up the ramp.
"Not at all," Daniel said truthfully.
And before anything could happen, they were all through the gate. A few seconds passed, it shut down, and Jordan let out a long breath.
"Exciting," he commented.
The sun was up on this world, a bit of a jarring sight after knowing it had set on the other side of the wormhole. There was a perfectly oval clearing around the gate and the DHD, covered with short yellow-green grass accented by moss but no weeds or wildflowers. And beyond this oval of about 500 yards, all they could see around them were trees. Mostly evergreens, to be exact. There was a sparser area where there might have been a road once, Daniel guessed, but other than that—nothing.
"We left Earth, correct?" asked Jordan.
"Oh yes," said Jack, pointing up at the reddish moon that was quite visible above the tree-line. "Look Daniel—trees. We've never come across them before."
Daniel rolled his eyes to Jack. "Most planets we come across are fairly Earth-like," he explained to Jordan.
"Although, there may be something different about these," said Mckay, frowning and walking towards the nearest tree-line.
"Hmm?" Daniel asked, looking around. Apart from the perfectly circular edge of the clearing, while beyond the trees were closely spaced, it didn't look too alien. But he followed Mckay to look closer. The structure of trunk and large branches were mostly similar to pines, certainly, but Mckay was right in that there was something off about the thinner limbs and needles.
"What, the trees are interesting this time?" asked Dixon, eyebrows incredulously raised.
"If someone's up there playing tricks on me..." muttered Jack, eyes suspiciously skyward.
"Look, look!" said Mckay as they came close to one of the trees. It was darker near the edge, and the branches swayed over their heads.
Daniel had caught it at the same time, stepping into the shade of the canopy. "That's amazing, look at that branch end!"
"It looks like a taco," said Jack, looking over their shoulders.
Daniel and Mckay both turned to give him the eye.
"Are you saying it doesn't?" demanded Jack.
"The needles on this aren't regular pine variety," said Mckay, leaning in to look at the nearest branch. "They don't look soft."
"I'm not getting a taco vibe, sir," said Dixon. "It looks more like a...what do you call those plants that eat meat?"
"Venus Fly Trap," commented Teal'c absently, as he looked up into the sky.
Jordan, after a moment of standing around in stunned appreciation, came up to stand near Daniel's side.
"Jackson, smell this," said Mckay, oblivious to the others as his face was a couple inches from the oddly shaped pine branch. "It's amazing. I don't think these are pine needles."
"Why is there no wildlife on this planet?" asked Teal'c.
Daniel glanced quickly to him, and frowned. He was right—no bird calls or animal dung was anywhere. Looking back to Mckay, he saw the fascinated look in his eyes, just a little too euphoric for the usual caution Mckay showed. "Rodney, I don't think you should touch that."
"These can't be real pine needles," Mckay said, as if unhearing, his finger reaching for the now-dangerous looking branch.
"Rodney!"
"Mckay!"
"God! Oh god! It bit me!"
Gone was Mckay's almost trance-like nature as the tree branch had wrapped around his hand, sending the too-aptly named needles piercing deep into his hand. The rest of the team jumped back sharply as Mckay crumpled in a lump, gasping in acute pain, but the trees didn't move.
"Oh god, they're alive and they've got me!" said Mckay through growing hyperventilation.
Jack's gun immediately rose. "Daniel, stand back."
"Wait—wait, Jack!" Daniel protested quickly, putting up his hand. "We can't just go shooting at it. What if it bites down harder?"
"Could it actually be alive?" asked Jordan, looking to Daniel with concern.
"Well, we haven't come across anything like that, but I wouldn't rule it out completely," said Daniel, eyes darting between Mckay and his team.
"I did not want to be the guinea pig for a new kind of life!" snapped Mckay breathily, but his moment of irritation gave way to a fearful sob of pain.
"Sir, we need to bring in a doctor," said Dixon, concern open on his face.
"Contact Hammond," said Jack with a nod of agreement. Dixon jogged off to the DHD and Daniel drew near to Mckay. "Hey! Daniel! Vicious tree?" Jack exclaimed.
"What, Jack? It didn't attack us when we were all standing there," said Daniel, crouching beside Mckay. The other scientist was pale and shaky, sweat gathering on his broad brow as he leaned up against the tree trunk. "Maybe it's not fully capable of movement. Teal'c?" Daniel beckoned the Jaffa to come closer.
Teal'c hesitated a moment, eyeing the swaying trees around them with strong suspicion. But only a moment later, he lay down his staff weapon and came over to join Daniel. Carefully, avoiding touching the actual tree, Teal'c helped Daniel lie Mckay down on the ground. The attacking branch had been low on the tree and thin enough that this was possible, even if Mckay's arm was still suspended.
"Rodney, are you still conscious?" asked Daniel.
Mckay nodded, eyes squeezed shut.
"Okay, we've sent for Doctor Frasier," assured Daniel.
Jack, gun still ready but lowered, had apparently agreed with Daniel that the trees couldn't reach out and attack them, and came up behind Daniel's shoulder. "Daniel, how can you possibly explain to me why there's a planet full of nothing but killer trees with a Stargate?"
"Do all these worlds use their Stargates?" asked Jordan.
Daniel turned from Mckay, remembering their guest on this 'quiet mission'. "No, actually," he said.
Jordan had stepped back with the rest when Mckay had been attacked, but now he stepped forward again, looking more determined than frightened. "Maybe there were people here before there were trees," he suggested after a deep breath.
Daniel caught his words and started tapping the air with a finger, following that train of thought.
"There's nothing around, I looked," came Mckay's weary voice.
"Don't worry, Rodney, we're working on this," said Daniel, relieved to see that Mckay hadn't succumbed to shock or some kind of poison yet.
"Oh, that gives me such hope," deadpanned Mckay.
"Right, just keep up that attitude and you'll be just fine," commented Jack encouragingly.
"I will look around for any clues," said Jordan, putting a hand on Daniel's shoulder.
"This has already gotten dangerous, Dr.," said Jack. "You should head back through the gate."
"You need trained eyes looking around, trust me, Colonel," said Jordan firmly.
"Daniel?" Jack looked to him.
Daniel nodded. Jack tipped his head, but Jordan didn't need his permission to start scanning the perimeter of the meadow. Beyond him, Dixon stood by the active gate. Daniel knew that Frasier couldn't be here in less than five minutes, and she would need every bit of knowledge he could give her. He turned back to Mckay.
Gently, he rotated Mckay's arm as much as was possible. His teammate didn't make a sound, but looking at the wound Daniel wasn't surprised. The "Venus Fly Trap" had bitten neatly around Mckay's hand and wrist, digging deep into it with what looked more like probes than teeth. Judging by the length of the ones out of reach of his hand, Daniel grimaced to note that it looked like some of the needles could have driven all the way to the bone if not beyond.
More disturbing, though, was the shiny quality of the needles' texture. Not merely polished smooth, they seemed to be glistening with some kind of liquid. His elementary biology knowledge had Daniel expecting some kind of drug—but what for, he didn't want to guess aloud. Mckay already looked out of it, and more hyperventilation wouldn't do anything.
"Rodney, are you still awake?" asked Daniel. Mckay's eyes were limply shut, his mouth drooping a little.
"No, I'm unconscious, you moron," Mckay answered, his voice too weak to have bite.
"Just checking," said Daniel, concerned at how out of things Mckay was getting. Other traumas had made him over-stimulated and hyperactive, but even with the extreme shock of having your hand so violently bitten, Daniel wasn't sure this was a natural reaction.
He heard the gate activate again, and looked up just in time to see Janet Frasier and two medical officers come through the gate. Just in time.
"Okay, what do we have here?" the small doctor asked as she made her way swiftly across the short field.
"A tree bit him," said Jack.
"What?" asked Janet, confused. Then she saw Mckay. "Oh my god, that's not good."
Teal'c, who had been supporting Mckay to keep any strain off his arm, moved himself out of the way so that Janet could examine him.
"Daniel, do we know anything?" she asked, looking to him.
Daniel ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his forehead. "Well, it didn't attack until it was touched, but there was an intoxicating smell—my main thought was that it was some kind of carnivorous plant like a Venus Fly Trap."
"While looking just like a pine tree—that's strange," said Janet. "Well, if it is like that, it can't digest him very quickly. It will just hold him until he wears out, possibly inject him with a kind of sedative and/or digestive fluid to break down his tissues."
"There is a kind of liquid on the spines," commented Daniel.
"Okay," said Janet, kneeling next to Mckay. "Delores? The bag please, and then can you go back to the base and get me the Poisons and Drugs kit? John, this man won't be able to be moved for a while, so you might as well report to the General."
While Janet's two assistants made their way back to the gate, she put on gloves and a mask. Mckay seemed out of things, not responding even when she probed at the outer edge of the bite. Granted, she didn't probe very deep.
"Doctor Mckay?" she asked.
"Am I dead yet?" he murmured.
"Not in the least. I need you to tell me how you feel?"
"Can't," murmured Mckay, shaking his head.
"You can't tell me?" asked Janet.
"I can't feel my hand anymore," said Mckay.
"That's not surprising, there looks like there could be a lot of nerve damage," said Janet. "What about the rest of you?"
"I think I'm in pain, but I don't know for sure," said Mckay, a couple of the words slurring a little. "I feel sick."
"Teal'c, you need to make sure he's propped up in case he vomits," said Janet. Teal'c nodded.
"What do you need me to do?" asked Daniel.
Janet's brow creased. "I'm going to work on the medical side of all this, but I need you to get me something about this tree, if you can."
Daniel nodded and stood up. "Jack, I might need your help."
"Daniel, what do you think you're going to find?" said Jack in a voice just above a whisper.
"Well, we can see if these trees are sentient or not."
"They're trees!" said Jack, shaking his hand.
"And do you want to get them mad by insulting their intelligence?" asked Daniel with one eyebrow raised. "Alien world, Jack, remember?"
"Don't get snotty," warned Jack, but got the point.
Daniel didn't know where he was going to start, but he knew he had to. Of all of the missions they'd been on, this was one where they most desperately needed all the scientists they had. With Mckay out of commission, it was up to Daniel and Janet—and Jordan. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all that he'd brought him on the mission.
ooooooo
Sam and Jolinar made their way down to the infirmary early the next morning, but were stopped by Dorin.
"You are here to see Sha're?" the Tok'ra doctor asked.
"Of course," said Sam.
Dorin sighed. "She did not have a good night last night. Shifu was screaming most of it, and there seems to be—well, I will let her tell you herself. But be prepared, she may not be in a congenial mood."
"Thanks," said Sam, nodding. As they neared Sha're's chamber, things became more obvious. Shifu's cries carried a good way despite the walls, and they were the shaky, hiccouphy ones of a child who had been crying for a good time now.
Turning the corner, they saw Sha're pacing her chamber, bouncing Shifu in her arms. Her jaw was set, eyes tightly shut, and there were circles dark beneath them. Her hair and clothes looked disheveled, as if she had slept in them, if she had slept at all last night.
"Sha're?" called Sam, when they were close enough to be heard above the baby's screams.
She jumped a little. "Sa'm," she said, wearily. "Jolinar. Forgive me, I do not want company, but I need you."
"What is it?" asked Sam.
Sha're closed her eyes again, taking a breath.
"Here, let me take him," said Sam, concerned for the exhausted woman.
"It will not help," said Sha're, but she willingly let Sam take the bundled infant.
Sure enough, Shifu didn't even pause for a new breath. Sam was not comfortable with babies, but in this case it didn't matter what she did. "What did you need to tell me?" she asked over Shifu's continuing protests.
Sha're sat wearily down on a chair, and Sam took the one opposite. "It is this child, of course," she said. "He was well for the first two weeks, but in the past few days he has suddenly started crying."
"Isn't that what newborns do when they have colic?" asked Sam.
"So I was advised at first by Larys and Dorin," said Sha're. She sighed. "But Anise's concerns came to me, and so I had them watch him closely one night. Now they are not so sure. I never thought he cried out of discomfort, but more out of fear, and according to their readings his mind is reacting as if to nightmares."
Sam frowned, glancing down at the baby who still cried in her arms. Now that she listened, she understood what Sha're meant—his cries were almost frantic.
*I agree with her concerns,* said Jolinar.
"So you think it has something to do with his being harcesis, having all those memories?" asked Sam.
"I am worried," admitted Sha're. "Sa'm, I do not know what I should think; he is still my poor child, but what if there is something more?"
"Have you talked to the doctors about this?" asked Sam.
"Only briefly," said Sha're. "But they said that there has not been another time like this."
Jolinar came forward. "It is true, Sha're. We have next to no information about harcesies. I do not know what we can do."
"Dorin mentioned that they might be able to repress his Goa'uld memories," said Sha're. "But I am afraid that the process might hurt him."
"It is possible that some other memories might be lost as well," admitted Jolinar. "But think, Sha're—if your theories are true, what child would he be?"
"Not mine, I am afraid," said Sha're, eyes welling up. "Jolinar, I was so certain that he was my child to claim, flesh of my own flesh. But now my heart is full of fear that the Goa'uld will yet steal him away from me."
Jolinar had realized that she was now holding the crying, flailing infant, and Sam felt her extreme discomfort, but she pushed past it and looked Sha're in the eyes. "Sha're, if there is anything that can be done, it must be done soon. For both your sakes." Nothing more to say, she quickly granted control back to Sam.
"She's right, Sha're," said Sam. "Look at yourself; you can't live like this."
Sha're exhaled, wiping her eyes. "Here, let me take him back," she said, reaching for Shifu. When he was bouncing again in her arms, whimpering as he regained strength to scream, she looked up to Sam. "Thank you, both of you. My mind is so weary, I did not know whether to trust it."
"You should tell all this to Dorin or Larys," said Sam. "I am sure they share your concerns and desires for Shifu's safety."
Sha're nodded. "Yes, I will do that."
Sam tried an encouraging smile. "Will you be able to sleep?"
"He quiets down sometimes, for a few hours," said Sha're. "I will survive."
Sam rose. "I would stay and help you, but the Council needs me."
"Of course, I would not wish to burden you with this," said Sha're. "I only wanted your advice.
"Don't forget to ask for help from others if you need it," advised Sam. "Keep well, Sha're."
"I will," said Sha're with a weak smile of her own.
Sam and Jolinar left, turning at the last moment to cast a worried look that Sha're missed as she began pacing again.
*This would have had to be resolved at some point, but I did not think it would be so soon,* commented Jolinar. *Anise was right, even if intrusive.*
~Is it possible, what Dorin suggested?~ asked Sam.
*It is not well tested, but it is plausible,* said Jolinar. *At this point, however, there is nothing else to do if we wish to give Sha're her child back.*
~Hopefully he hasn't been taken away yet,~ said Sam with a shiver.
*And for all our sakes, let us hope that this does not affect our upcoming mission,* said Jolinar. *And speaking of that...we should meet with the Council now.*
ooooooo
"Daniel, come look at this!" called Jordan from a few feet away.
With the help of Jack, Daniel had been trying to figure out how these trees worked. As far as he could tell with his own senses, they only reacted automatically like any other plant, and even Mckay's devices didn't pick up anything abnormal about them. It was just some strange evolution of plant life. But it was confusing to Daniel, and he kept trying.
"What is it?" asked Daniel, hurrying over and hoping there was something more intriguing.
"Look at that," said Jordan, pointing between the first couple trees on the edge.
Daniel peered in, looking down where Jordan's finger had pointed. "Is that—that's a paved stone, isn't it?"
"Unless stones grow flat and well-placed on other worlds," said Jordan, not entirely facetious.
"Okay, so there was someone else here," said Daniel, adjusting his glasses to rub the corners of his eyes. "That's something."
"Jackson, you're probably only going to find that these people were eaten by trees," said Dixon, who had taken Jack's place after the latter had gotten frustrated and took up a position with Teal'c by Janet and Mckay.
"Maybe there's some evidence that could give us a clue, though," said Daniel.
"The question is, how do we get in there?" asked Jordan.
"Well, I think I've solved that," said Daniel. "They only attack if the inside of their..."
"Tacos?" Dixon suggested reluctantly.
"Jaws," amended Daniel. Dixon nodded with approval. "Only if the inside of their jaws are touched.
"So we move the branches aside and we can safely get past," said Jordan. Daniel was only a little surprised at how quick and collected he had been on this mission; anyone who could hold their own with several classes of college students a day could handle stress, but it was the inner character that had pushed Daniel to offer him this that let him absorb the newness of alien things.
"Can we use your gun, Dixon?" asked Daniel.
Dixon sighed. "Yeah, sure."
"I'll use yours to keep this outer part open, Daniel," said Jordan. He smiled wryly. "I'm not so adventurous as to willingly venture in there."
"It looks pretty thin, so that's a benefit," said Daniel, handing his only weapon to Jordan.
Jordan held the first branch back and Daniel stepped in between the two trunks. He held his breath, but nothing happened beyond his expectations. Dixon followed, and Jordan let the branch slowly fall back into place. The space was small, but there was breathing room. Dixon shuffled forward and used his gun to push aside the next branch, ducking beneath a particularly high one. Daniel followed, only having to stoop slightly, and squeezed past another one. Dixon followed until the next one crossed the open space, then he stepped in front to push it carefully aside.
"This is worse than electric wire," he muttered.
Daniel stooped under the last branch to reach where the paved stones were. Weeds had sprouted up between them, knocking some out of the way with the passage of time. They had once been carved, though, and Daniel was intrigued to see that the design was certainly not Goa'uld in origin.
The next hundred feet or so was easy, as no trees had encroached on the path, and within ten minutes they had gone about 500 feet.
"Colonel," called Dixon through his radio, pausing to give an update. "Jackson and I made it through the trees—Jackson's found some kind of civilization."
"Daniel, you do realize we're just here to rescue Mckay?"
"Yes, Jack, I do," said Daniel. "I'm trying to do that just now. I'm hoping the people who used to live here knew about the trees."
"It's not a bad theory, sir," said Dixon.
"As soon as Frasier's got a way out, though, we're leaving," said Jack.
"Got it," said Dixon.
"Has she got anything yet?" asked Daniel.
"She thinks the spines put some kind of...minor acid into Mckay to start breaking him all down," said Jack, sounding disgusted and worried all at once. "But she has no idea what to do about it."
Daniel nodded, nothing else to say. Earlier, at Jack's request, they had tried to close one of the jaws of another tree and cut the branch loose to see what happened. Closing the jaw had made the needles drip some fluid, but cutting the branch had made the jaws close even tighter and shoot the fluid out at greater force. Janet was firm—there was no moving Mckay unless they could get the jaws off without making him lose his hand.
Looking ahead, Daniel saw something stone other than the path, and hurried along towards it. As far as he could tell, this had once been a circular monument of sorts, but the trees had grown in and around it. Using Dixon, though, Daniel began to follow the perimeter.
"This is amazing architecture," Daniel commented. "This is stone, but the cut marks are almost invisible, as if they found these formed instead of carving them. Definitely an advanced technology."
Dixon, who was paying more attention to the branches than the stone, just said briskly, "Uh-huh."
About halfway around the circle, though, Daniel saw a larger tower like structure. No trees were in the couple feet surrounding it, and he walked towards it. It was only a little taller than he was, and though the sides were covered in markings, there seemed to be a kind of podium facing the center of the circle. Standing in front of it, Daniel brushed off the old leaves and needles and was surprised to see a kind of screen. Or at least, it looked like a screen. Like the sides, it was carved with designs.
"What is it?" asked Dixon, still standing on the path.
"I've seen these symbols before, I think," said Daniel. He ran his fingers over the carved stone, eyes scanning, mind trying to remember. "Oh!"
"You do know them?" asked Dixon.
"Dixon, did you ever hear about Heliopolis?" asked Daniel, getting excited. "The four Great Races?"
"Yeah," said Dixon.
"This is one of those languages!" said Daniel, hope driving away the pent-up frustrations of trying to figure it all out. "There's a short inscription in the Norse of Thor's people and in this other language—I have the cypher back in my bag, but I think I can make out a few words here and now." He paused, finger resting just below a character. "Oh, no."
"What?" asked Dixon.
"The good news is, I think this new language might be related to Latin," said Daniel, face darkening. "The bad news is, the words I can make out right now in Norse refer to attack, day, and death. I think this is saying that victims died one day after being attacked."
"Shit," said Dixon. "Now what?'
"Mckay's only got 24 hours, and I can't work through all of this in that time," said Daniel, waving his hand over the small tower. "But I think that after this introduction, there's more, important information. I just need someone who can help translate."
"You said Latin, though," said Dixon.
"I said it's like that," corrected Daniel. He looked up at Dixon, and then his eyes lit up. "You're right, though—Dr. Jordan could do as well as anyone."
"Okay, so I go get your bag and bring Jordan through to here, right?" said Dixon.
"Yes, yes," said Daniel. "I'll work on this new script as much of this as I can until you get there."
"And I'll tell the Colonel and Frasier that we might have something to go on," said Dixon, already on his way back. "Good luck, Jackson!"
Daniel set to work on the stone tablet before him, noticing with relief that none of the characters seemed to be worn away. Whatever Great Race had settled this planet, they had certainly known how to make things that would last. Now if only they had gotten enough information down to help Mckay...
—
Author's Note: While we didn't see all of SG-1's missions in the series, not all the "extra" missions in this story are ones that I think happened in canon. Given the slightly different timeline and make-up of the team, assignments would be a little different sometimes.
