"The Testament," Oscar answered. "It is the most revered book in our culture, the writings of our first queen, the one who had been human. She speaks of her struggle. It is a struggle we have all shared. It is an ancient text and will introduce you anew to my people.
"It is secreted in the dart."
"Tell us where it is," Jack said. "I'll send someone."
"No, we must go together," Oscar said. "You may have me under guard of course, but you must trust me that much. We must begin somewhere
Chapter 37: Truth
"She's crashing!"
She'd woken up an hour ago. Extremely agitated, breathing heavily, she was delirious. Memories were assaulting her faster than she could handle them. She insisted on seeing her "own doctor", Janet Frasier. Thrashing and screaming when this didn't happen, she'd been sedated. They'd called Jack. He'd been on one of the outer piers of the city where the dart had landed. With Oscar and the guards in tow, he'd made good time, arriving in less than twenty minutes.
By the time he arrived, Sam was awake once more, fighting the effects of her sedative. Jack ran to her side, doing his best to calm his distraught wife. For a reason no one understood, his efforts appeared to have the opposite effect. Sam bolted from the bed, stumbling to the opposite side of the room. Within seconds she collapsed.
Jack carried her back to the infirmary bed before anyone else could reach her. But when Dr. Rogers checked her, she wasn't breathing.
Now Jack stood transfixed while the medics roughly pushed him out of the way.
At Dr. Rogers call for help, Jennifer Keller and the code team came out of nowhere. Within seconds they surrounded the bed of the unfortunate patient whose heart had so rudely stopped beating. And they went to work. The experienced trauma team worked their well oiled drill, rescue breathing, cardiac massage, intubation, epinephrine, it went like clockwork. Slowly, Sam's EKG tracing showed signs of improvement, very slowly. Jack reminded himself to breath as he watched Sam's struggle, willing her heart to start beating on its own. For that period of time, no one else existed, no one but the two of them. He'd give his life for her; he only needed to know how to do that.
It seemed like an eternity. Truth be told, within ten minutes, Sam was stabilized. Jennifer and her team stood back for a moment and assessed the situation. The crisis had taken them by surprise. Sure there was a risk; they were treating an unknown ailment after all. But Sam's condition had been improving. The intravenous feedings had been working. In fact, she'd woken from her coma. That should have been good news. But for some reason it wasn't.
"Stay with her," Jennifer instructed Dr. Rogers. "I'll be with General O'Neill."
As Jennifer turned from her patient she found Jack no more than two feet behind her, his eyes locked on Sam, a single tear falling unimpeded from his right eye. His face was ashen.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," she said.
"She'll pull out of this, right?" He asked.
"We need to talk," Jennifer said, starting to take Jack's arm, directing him to her office. Before either of them could make any headway they realized Oscar and his guards had come to the Infirmary right along with Jack. In the chaos of the code, they'd remained just outside the doorway. While the guards remained fixed on Oscar, Oscar, his arms cradling the Testament, had studiously watched the humans' attempts to save Sam.
From what he saw he knew he could help. Whether they would let him was another story.
"General O'Neill," Oscar called before the man could be spirited away, "I'd like to know more about her current condition. If I'm right about what is happening, I believe I can help."
"And I believe you've done enough," Jennifer blurted out. "If you'd excuse us, I need to speak with …"
"Wait a minute doctor," Jack insisted. "Like it or not, I need to hear him out."
Keller was shocked. She knew O'Neill was neither patient nor tolerant, particularly when it came to people who'd threatened his wife. To see him suggest this Wraith could somehow be trusted to help Sam…well, that was...unexpected.
But Jack was the General. So with some reluctance, Jennifer included Oscar and those guarding him in what would normally have been a family meeting. Painstakingly, she reviewed the most recent series of events, those which ended in the cardiac arrest they'd witnessed. Reluctantly, she admitted the nutrient solution she'd been administering had failed to completely normalize Sam's electrolyte balance. It was likely that failure had contributed to her delirium a few moments ago.
"And she was pulling on McKay's glove," Jennifer added. "Rogers said she looked desperate to take it off right before you got here, General."
"That's strange," Jack said. "Sam thought that glove was a gift. She said it decreased the compulsion to feed, helped her feel safe …human."
Oscar had heard enough. And he had seen it all before. In his hive, he'd seen it.
"I know what's happening here," he said.
Jack and Jennifer turned to look at the Wraith, now sitting bound to the chair opposite Dr. Keller's desk, the chair next to Jack's.
"The problem is that Colonel Carter is no longer simply human. The 'glove' your scientist devised cannot take away the part of her that is Wraith; it can only hide its physical manifestation. However the compulsion remains. She has been fighting it since the day she took her first victim. How many has she fed upon here?"
The question was unsettling in itself. Jack looked at Jennifer, then back to the Wraith. How could this creature believe Sam would feed on her own people, here in Atlantis? How could he believe they would allow it to happen?
"She hasn't," Jack said, doing his best to control his outrage, "fed on anyone here, that is." He decided to leave his answer simple and factual. He wanted to see Oscar's next move.
"You will not allow someone as important as Colonel Carter to feed?" Oscar asked, sincerely puzzled.
He genuinely didn't understand, Jack told himself.
"No one is so important that we'd allow her to take another life," Keller replied, glancing knowingly at Jack, remembering how he'd offered his own life.
"So she has struggled with the compulsion for several days," Oscar observed. "She was fighting the war within herself while she was with us. I could see the toll that it took. General, my people also fight that war at times. It is exactly what happens to us when our food supply is as limited as it is right now. Each of us makes choices between our own hunger and the welfare of others, often of our own hive. I have seen hive-mates die as they continued to deny their own physical needs. Their death has been as much from the emotional trauma as from their starvation."
"But she can't be starving," Keller protested.
"You refer to your nutrient mixture?" Oscar observed. "It is not sufficient, not for someone who is part Wraith. That is where I can help. The enzyme, the fluid we inject into our subjects, we have used it in our hive to increase the amount of time we can survive without nourishment. I believe Samantha needs this as well as your nutrients."
Jack got up from his chair and stood directly in front of the tethered Wraith. Towering over him, he said, "If you think you are placing any more Wraith stuff in her, you're crazier than I thought."
"I am not crazy," Oscar protested calmly. "I know what works in these situations because those of my family have suffered the same thing. We will administer a relatively small dose, simply enough to replenish her system. I believe that will temporarily restore her to you until we can manage a more permanent solution."
"That's the stuff Ford took, isn't it?" Jack asked.
"Yes, it is," Keller said. "But he was given, and later took, massive doses. Other members of Colonel Sheppard's team took smaller doses and suffered no ill effects. I don't think it would be harmful. Then again, I don't know it would do any good."
"Do you have a better idea?" Jack asked.
"No, Sir," Keller admitted. "I'm developing a stem cell treatment that will replenish the normal cells lining her intestinal tract. But it may take several days to perfect that research. After what we saw today, I'm not sure we have that long."
Oscar sat silently and shook his head.
"What?" Jack demanded.
"Again you have forgotten the Wraith part of the equation," Oscar said. "But we must take one step at a time. Let me produce the enzyme for her. Then get your scientists to work with me on the stem cell treatment.
"I believe the man who developed 'the glove' may be helpful."
"Dr. McKay is not available," Jack supplied. "Seems he was spying for you. Forgive me if we don't trust your agent right now."
Again Oscar shook his head in disbelief.
"You have so much to learn, General," Oscar said. "Dr. McKay is not my spy. If it will make you feel any better, I will tell you all about my spies."
TBC
A/N: Sorry if the story is dragging. It is a balance between keeping things moving and resolving big problems too quickly and easily.
Another member of SG1 returns to the story in the next chapter or two. Hope you stay tuned.