The Touched

Part 7

Sam grimaced and clutched at the seat as they swerved around another corner. Turning to her left she frowned at the whiteness of Jack's knuckles as his fingers gripped the steering wheel. He was focused on the road...focused to the point that Sam wondered if he could see anything at all.

"Jack, what's going on?"

"Huh?" He swerved towards the middle of the road as he turned, having not expected her to speak, and she shrank back into her seat.

"What did Daniel say to you on the phone?"

"Nothing, it's fine."

"What's fine?" She frowned as he looked at her from the corner of his eye but said nothing. He began to concentrate on his driving again. She let out a sigh and reached out to place a hand on his arm. "Jack...tell me, please."

He turned to look at her for a brief moment before relenting. "I didn't want to tell you yet. I was planning on waiting till we got to the base."

"Tell me what?"

"Daniel's deciphered more of the book Ma'ari gave him...he thinks he knows what's wrong with you."

"Oh." She turned and stared out of her window, aware that Jack was gazing at her from time to time, but she didn't look at him. She watched the scenery pass by as they approached the mountain. She was finally getting to find out what was wrong, finally getting to find out just what exactly this dying woman's sin was, the sin that she had apparently allowed to be forgiven. The only problem was, she'd had time to think about it herself, and she had a sneaking suspicion that she knew what was going on. Or part of it anyway. And now...now everyone else was going to find out as well.

~x~x~x~x~x~

There was a claustrophobic silence lying thick in the room. They sat alone, regardless of their close proximity. Jack hated this, he hated that Sam was right in front of him and yet he still couldn't help her. She hadn't said spoken since the car journey, she was acting as if she was on autopilot. He kept staring over at her, hoping that she would give him some kind of sign...anything to let him know that she was doing okay. But there was nothing. It was as if she was some place else, anywhere but here. It was almost as if she didn't want to know what was happening to her...or as if she already knew.

"Okay, Doctor Jackson, we're all here. Now do you think you could tell us what's going on?"

Jack turned his gaze from Sam as the General entered the room. The elder man looked at him briefly, his gaze resting on Sam for a moment longer than everyone else before he caught Jack's eye. The General gave him a tight-lipped smile before returning his gaze to Daniel.

"Well, actually, General, I think it'd be best if I spoke to Sam alone, first." Jack stood up, about to protest when Sam spoke.

"It's okay Daniel, they'll have to find out soon anyway."

Daniel frowned, "You know don't you?" he asked quietly, but everyone could hear him as they stared at Sam. "You figured it out."

"I...I have my suspicions, yes." She replied, shifting under everyone's scrutiny.

"If you knew then why didn't you say something?"

"Ja...Sir, I don't know if I'm right...I...I don't want to believe that I'm right. What did you expect me to say?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about something along the lines of, 'Hey Jack, remember that trip to that planet, well, I think I've figured out what happened when I almost killed myself for that alien'."

"With all due respect, Sir, this is nothing to do with you. You have no right to assume that I..."

"Nothing to do with me? A member of my team almost kills herself and it's not my business?"

"No! Not when..."

"All right, enough." The General stepped forward, but Sam and Jack remained inches apart, staring each other down. "Now, we're all a little on edge. Sit down and we can all hear what Dr. Jackson has to say." After a moment's silence, everyone was seated. "Okay, Dr. Jackson, continue."

"Yes, yes, okay, well, I've managed to decipher some more of the book that Ma'ari gave me. The dialect is extremely confusing in places, but I've managed to find the passages relating to 'The Touched'. Unlike when we were on P3X-797, this isn't..."

"Woaw, slow down, P3what would be where?"

"P3X-797, eh, we were infected by a virus..."

"The one that made us go caveman?"

"Yes. They were called the Touched, if you remember. However, this is not exactly the same, although there are arguably similarities..."

"Daniel! Get on with it."

"Uh, yes, sorry," He cleared his throat and sent Sam a reassuring smile before continuing. "Well, from what I can deduce the people of P6X-989 were evacuated from their world by a race they called the Ancients..."

"Our Ancients?"

"Eh, different Ancients, it's just their way of giving them a name. The race is so old to them, so ingrained within their history that they can only call them the Ancients. Anyway, they were evacuated because of overpopulation. They were running out of resources, both natural and otherwise. The book says, 'filled with fear and desperation, the people began to fight, with little food, they could only', er, best I can make of it is that they were cannibalising each other."

"Nice." Sam said, her face filled with disgust.

"Yeah. The Ancients were their saviours. They rescued a small number of people, about 100 and took them through the Stargate to P6X-989. In return for this, the people only had to live peacefully. There were of course rules."

"Anything to do with the Rules of Marriage that Hai was talking about?"

"Yes. The laws of Marrid, or laws of a Marriage, were placed upon them by the Ancients in order to make sure that the same thing didn't happen again."

"And what were these rules DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked, speaking for the first time. He stared at Sam, almost as if he knew as well, and Jack had to wonder if he was the only one who hadn't figured it out yet.

"Well, they, there really were only two. The first was simple, marry only for love. That way people wouldn't need to have children to 'save' a marriage...and two, each couple may produce only three offspring, at the most."

"And what happened if they produced more?" Sam asked tentatively.

"Well, they were punished, unless..."

"Unless what?" Jack almost shouted across the room.

"Unless they could find someone to become Touched."

Jack watched as Sam closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. Looking around the room, he noticed everyone doing the same, including Doctor Frasier. Turning to Daniel, he asked, "What is the Touched, Daniel?"

"Well, according to the book, it...it's when the soul of an unborn child passes on to another."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Sorry it took so long to get the next part finished! Well, you finally found out something...tune in next time for the details and reactions! ;)

Just wanted to say, I hadn't seen the Broca Divide for ages, so I'd forgotten that those people were called the Touched as well. When I saw the ep again I felt I'd better mention it!

Feedback always appreciated ;)