"Prosecution calls Major Janet Frasier to the stand," Rivers announced from where he stood behind the prosecutor's table the next morning. He watched as Janet rose from her seat in the gallery next to Daniel and walked to the witness box. Colonel Rivers put her under oath then wasted no time beginning his questioning. "Major Frasier you were the physician that attended Major Carter at the birth of her children?" he asked.
"Yes," Frasier confirmed. "I delivered Major Carter's twins by cesarean section nineteen days ago."
"After their birth, did you perform a paternity test on the infants?" the colonel asked.
"Yes," Janet answered.
"The test confirmed that Colonel O'Neill is the children's father?" Rivers questioned.
"Yes," she said.
"How certain are the results of this test?" the attorney inquired.
"Over ninety-nine percent," Janet said.
Rivers nodded at her answer as he paced in front of the witness stand. In his hand he held a thick manila folder. "In Major Carter's records there is a note stating you had become concerned about Major Carter's health some two and a half years ago. Do you remember what caused this concern?" he queried.
"She was working extremely long hours in order to build a particle accelerator to rescue Colonel O'Neill," Janet replied. Pierce and several members of the jury seemed surprised at this frank reply, but Chegwidden and his two cohorts had expected this question and ordered Janet to answer without prevaricating.
"Just how long was this?" Rivers asked.
"She worked over eighteen hours a day for nearly three months," Janet answered.
The prosecutor turned to the members of the court as soon as the words left Janet's mouth. The expression on his face clearly asked 'And we're expected to believe there was nothing going on before?' It was a question the rules of evidence prevented him from asking. Instead he said, "No further questions. The prosecution rests." It was clear from the smug look on his face he'd intended for this to startle the defense. In A.J.'s mind this was another clear indication that Rivers was more a politician than a real attorney. If he'd expected to shock the defendants and their attorneys, he was disappointed. There had never been any doubt that with these two witnesses alone the prosecution would prove the fraternization had happened. As Major Carter herself had said, denial wasn't exactly an option in this case. They weren't after a not guilty verdict. Their sole aim was to minimize the punishment O'Neill and Carter would receive. Besides, for their defense to work either Carter or O'Neill had to take the stand. Rivers was certain to make points in his cross-examination.
"Defense may cross examine the witness" Judge Pierce said with a small wave of his hand.
"Thank you, your honor" Lt. Colonel McKenzie said as she stood and walked towards the witness stand. The Marine lawyer consulted a piece of paper she held in her hand before asking, "Major Frasier, how long did Major Carter work to disconnect the Stargate from the wormhole on P3W-451?"
"23 hours without stop," Janet answered.
"And when SG-10 became stranded on PR4-3J8?" Mac asked.
"Over eighteen hours a day for three weeks," the SGC's chief medical officer replied.
Mac nodded then continued down the list in her hand presenting a pattern of behavior that had nothing to do with O'Neill and everything to do with Samantha Carter's own ethics and sense of loyalty. "Barring these kinds of emergencies what are her work hours like?" Mac asked.
"Objection!" Rivers called out. "Major Frasier..."
"...is the chief medical officer for the SGC and Major Carter's best friend," Mac interrupted. "She is perfectly familiar with Major Carter's work habits."
"Overruled," Pierce decreed. "You may answer the question, Major."
"She's been known to stay in her lab until someone drags her out," Janet answered.
"You?" Mac asked.
"Or one of her teammates," Janet confirmed.
"Colonel O'Neill?" Mac asked. Colonel River's poorly hid his glee though General Moore's expression continued to be unreadable. He perhaps realized that this line of questioning wasn't to the prosecution's advantage.
"Yes, Dr. Jackson has a similar work habit," Janet explained. "Colonel O'Neill generally gives them both a couple days then drags one or both of them away from their work to make them eat and rest."
Mac paced in front of the jury box for several seconds letting Frasier's answer sink in. She could tell that a few of the members of the court had understood the implication that Colonel O'Neill took care of his teammates, all of them not just Carter. It was something that the defense attorneys intended to make very clear before this trial was over. "Why did you need to deliver Major Carter by cesarean?" she asked switching gears in her questioning.
"When Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill arrived back on Earth they were both severely injured," the petite doctor explained. "In fact, their son had been injured in utero."
Mac pulled the TV/VCR unit Dr. Jackson had used the previous day back out into the courtroom. "Dr. Frasier, I'm going to show you a tape of the defendants' return to Earth. Will you please describe the injuries we see?" she requested.
"I must renew my objection, your honor!" Colonel Rivers protested. "This tape is grossly prejudicial."
"Your honor, our defense is predicated on the fact that Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter believed they would not survive unless they broke the fraternization regulations," Mac argued knowing full well that the tape would be extremely difficult to get into evidence. No one who saw it could doubt that O'Neill and Carter had been through a horrifying ordeal during their captivity. "This tape shows precisely what they feared."
"She's right," Pierce decided. "I'm going to allow the tape in."
The prosecuting attorney took his seat once more with a very unhappy expression on his face.
As the tape played showing Carter's bloody hand appear on the ramp, Janet said, "Colonel O'Neill had a half dozen wounds from a low-powered staff weapon to his back. There were bruises over the majority of his body. He had seven cracked and five broken ribs, and there were burns from a shock stick on his torso." By this time Sam's arm had emerged from the wormhole. "Major Carter had a like number of wounds from a staff weapon to the front of her torso. These injuries appeared to have been sustained at a closer range than O'Neill's. She had dried blood around her ears, nose, and eyes, but there was no apparent sign of injury leading me to suspect she'd been the victim of a ribbon device," Janet continued. Daniel and Teal'c arrived on the tape at this point to tug their two friends the rest of the way onto the ramp. "She was already in heavy labor when she came through the Gate."
"What conclusion did you reach concerning the dried blood?" Mac asked.
"Shortly after their return both Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill began exhibiting signs of withdrawal," Janet said. "This led me to believe they'd been healed in a sarcophagus, probably repeatedly over a short period of time. Repeated use of a sarcophagus causes a form of addiction "
"What kind of sarcophagus are you talking about? A coffin for a mummy?" Mac asked though she knew the correct answer.
"A goa'uld healing device," Janet corrected. "It does resemble a coffin. When placed inside it, a sarcophagus can heal humans of injuries up to and including death."
"What caused the dried blood then?" the Marine colonel asked again.
"As I said, I suspected at that point that the goa'uld had used a ribbon device on her. Major Carter has since confirmed this to me. The human brain can only withstand a few minutes before severe brain damage occurs," Frasier explained. "When a ribbon device is used such as it was on Major Carter it causes a great deal of pain with physical damage limited to burns on the face and head and trauma to the brain. Major Carter most likely suffered a massive stroke or other brain injury which was then healed in the sarcophagus."
"Did you find evidence of other healed injuries?" the JAG lawyer asked.
"There was scarring over seventy percent of Colonel O'Neill's back consistent with the flogging Major Carter described in their journal. He also had numerous smaller scars on his hands and arms," Janet answered. "Major Carter's arm had a healed over break. She too had scars on her hands and arms."
"Do either of the defendants have any lingering medical problems?" Mac asked.
"They're both severely malnourished bordering on starvation," Frasier answered. "Major Carter's condition is more severe than Colonel O'Neill's, and her treatment is complicated by her inability to accept blood transfusions. Anemia is the most pressing danger to her health right now."
"Thank you, Major. I have no further questions for this witness," Mac announced.
"You may step down," the judge told Frasier. He then checked his watch. "We'll take ninety minutes for lunch then reconvene at one o'clock," he announced as he brought his gavel down. "Court dismissed."