The Touched

Part 8

The world stopped. All she could hear was her own breath, gently moving in and out in a rush of wind. A chill ran through her, touching every part of her body, finally resting in her abdomen, generating an odd tingling sensation. She felt as if she had been suspended in time for hours, although, in her head, she knew that only a few moments could have passed. The entire room must have been silent, for when Jack spoke, his voice echoed around the small room as if amplified tenfold.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Well," Daniel said softly, his gaze resting on Sam as she forced herself to listen. "It means that the child that was intended to be born to Nilke and Kilan, will be born through Sam...as her child."

"But how?" Janet questioned, her professional outlook unwilling to accept Daniel's claim. "I mean, it makes no sense. A woman can not become pregnant just because someone claims that they can 'pass on' the soul of an unborn child, which I have to say I find dubious at best. There's no possible way for the woman to suddenly possess a fertilised egg in her womb. It's just not possible."

"Under normal circumstances, I'd have to agree with you, Doctor. However, we are dealing with an alien way of life here and we've seen, more than once, that what we believe to be impossible, can, in fact, become so."

"There's no mention of how it happens," Daniel continued, "only that it does."

"So, what," Jack began, "they smack someone on the forehead and all of a sudden they've passed on their pregnancy?"

"That's not exactly what happened, Jack." Daniel replied, flinching as he cast a glance at Sam, to gauge her reaction of Jack's comment. However, she barely flinched. "And, no." he continued. "That's not all."

"Well, that's what it looked like to me." Jack forced. He sighed and looked across the room at Sam, an apology in his gaze as he locked eyes with her. "So," he continued, holding Sam's gaze, but speaking to Daniel, "what's not all?"

"Well," Daniel began, rubbing his temples as he searched the book, "according to the book, the...er...event, can only occur when a lover's caress, or *Touch* causes the child to, well, to come into being."

"That's it?" Janet asked incredulously.

"Well, the Ancients wanted to ensure that a child would only be brought up in a loving family. If something as simple as a touch could evoke a powerful feeling of love within, then the child would be created, It's, eh, it's quite a beautiful concept, really."

Jack shot Daniel a look and turned once again to look at Carter. Her face was masked; he had no idea how she was feeling. He remembered the incident when she had first woken up...remembered gently caressing her cheek...But still he could read nothing from her. Not that it was unusual for Sam to hide her feelings, but he could usually read her eyes. Now, they were blank, expressionless.

"Well," General Hammond began, breaking the silence, "now that we've discovered what's wrong, I guess the most prudent course of action would be to decide what to do next."

"With all due respect, Sir, I believe that decision is mine to make." Sam stated.

"Yeah, well, that was kinda the problem in the first place, wasn't it, Major?" Jack snapped. Hurt flickered across her features for a brief moment, before her military mask slipped back into place.

"Excuse me, Sir." she muttered, inclining her head to General Hammond as she quickly exited the room.

Jack flinched as the door shut behind her, echoing through the empty room. Without even glancing at the death glare he was receiving from, not only Teal'c, but every other member of the room as well, He sighed.

"Sir, permission to..."

"Your damn right you'd better go after her, Son."

Having the decency to look ashamed for his behaviour, Jack flinched again at Hammond's tone, knowing that he had every right to be angry with Jack, and nodded, exiting quickly. The others watched him leave the room before turning slowly to face each other.

"I believe MajorCarter is indeed Touched."

"If her symptoms hadn't told us that, I believe that little scene just did." Janet said, nodding to Teal'c.

"Speculation aside, Doctor," General Hammond interrupted, not having to think about the problems this latest development could cause, "I want Major Carter checked out. If she is...Touched, I'm sure she'd like to know."

"Yes, sir." Janet raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly at Daniel before leaving the room.

"Dr. Jackson, have you deciphered anything else from the book?"

"Just bits and pieces, really. The person who lived in the 'Red house' was called their 'Carer of Knowledge'. This would have been, Ma'ari, hence why she was in possession of the book. The rules of marrid only allowed three children, if the ritual of the Touched was unable to come to pass, then any other child conceived would be killed, as would the mother. I believe this is why Nilke was so afraid of Kilan when we first met them. Until Sam agreed to become Touched, Nilke was practically on Death Row, with her husband as the executioner. If neither of these were carried out, the family 'will have the shame of the Elders and the Ancients brought upon them'."

"That is why the village was being attacked." Teal'c surmised.

"Exactly. If the Touched isn't carried out within a certain time, and the child and mother still live, then they were shamed...which basically means the entire village would have been destroyed."

"Well, keep it up Doctor Jackson."

"I'll try." Daniel sighed and sat on his stool. "Although I doubt there's anything that can be done about Sam's, eh, situation. There may be some other side effects I can find."

"Very well, Dr. Jackson." General Hammond nodded, and turned to Teal'c. "Teal'c I want you to accompany SG6 on a mission to P4Y-935. The MALP sent back some interesting ruins. The glyphs engraved on them were definitely of Go'auld origin and with Dr. Jackson busy translating this book, we need you there."

Teal'c could tell that Daniel was listening and, no doubt, was dying to see the mentioned ruins. However, whether due to his belief that General Hammond would say no, or because he wanted to find out as much as he could to help Sam, he remained quiet.

"Of course, General Hammond."

"Debriefing is at 1300."

Teal'c inclined his head and exited the room, nodding to Daniel before he left.

"Doctor Jackson, try to find out all that you can. I think Major Carter is going to be going through some difficult times, and I'm sure that all the information you can give her would be appreciated."

"Of course," Daniel smiled tightly, opening the book again. "I think Jack would appreciated it as well. Neither of the men said anything more, but Daniel watched the General, trying to gauge his reaction to the conclusion that, no doubt, all present at the meeting had arrived at.

The General simply smiled sadly and sighed, "I'm sure he would, Doctor Jackson, I'm sure he would." With one final nod of his head, the General left the room, his final words hanging in the air. "Keep me informed, Doctor."

Daniel sighed and placed the book on the desk before him, "I only hope I can."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Hope that's teased you a little more, for just now! ;) Am currently working on the next part to Shadowed Paths, so I'm not sure when the next part to this will be out, hopefully soon!

Feedback is a gift, pretend it's my birthday! ;)