Teal'c went to the lab and found Sirikat working with Dr. Lee. The Jaffa found the short, balding engineer to be a whiny, cowardly nuisance. He had little use for the man after he had given up on rescuing O'Neill and Maybourne from the Furling world. Apparently, whatever he was teaching Sirikat was important enough for her to put up with him.
"My lady, if I may interrupt your studies for a moment, may I speak to you?"
She smiled. "Teal'c, you are never an interruption. Dr. Lee, please excuse me for a moment."
"Sure."
She stepped aside with Teal'c and looked up at him. "What is--oh, Lord and Lady. Something has happened to Jack."
"I fear so, my lady. O'Neill was attacked by an alien and very seriously injured. Major Carter and I have returned to bring back help."
"I get my things."
"Lady Sirikat, as a father myself, I believe I can confidently say that it will be best if I can truthfully tell O'Neill that you are safe and awaiting his return."
Sirikat bowed her head. "Again your wisdom guides me, Master Teal'c."
"GeneralHammond asks you to wait with him for more news. We leave within the hour, and will send word back as soon as we can."
"Tell Jack that I with him in spirit, and that he--he must get well."
Teal'c bowed and gave her a subtle Jaffa smile. "It is my honor to convey your orders, my Lady."
Sirikat left him to prepare for his return to the planet. She blinked away tears and tried to regain her composure before she reached the General's office. I am a warrior and a queen of Daltregon, she reminded herself. I will not give Jack cause to be ashamed of me. I will not cry like a child. I will not.
When the SGC had to mobilize to solve a problem that was too big for one team, it was nothing short of amazing to Sirikat how much force they could bring to bear in a short time. Thirty minutes after they arrived to report in, Teal'c accompanied SG-2, 3 and 6 back to the planet. Armed with the combat shotguns that had proven so effective against the replicators, as well as incendiary grenades, their job was to secure the place for the medical and science teams to follow.
Carter and Fraiser's medical team followed immediately after, and headed directly to Nirrti's stronghold with two FREDs loaded down with equipment.
Sirikat stood in the control room, waiting and praying as loved ones have waited and prayed for the return of soldiers since the dawn of time. Hammond put his hand on her shoulder. He knew enough of life to understand that nothing he could say would help, but there was no need of words to walk her path with her as long as fate allowed.
Fraiser unpacked her kit and gave Jack a thorough exam.
"I can't explain it, Jack. We're just going to have to wait for Sam to figure the machine out. In the meanwhile, I'd like to start a transfusion and get your heart restarted as soon as possible."
He nodded, and glanced away while Fraiser started the IV, a difficult job in a collapsed vein. But eventually she got it in place and the IV started flowing. He drew a sharp breath.
"Colonel, are you in pain?"
"No, but it feels kind of like...standing under a high-tension power line. It's a hell of a rush."
"Since this is your own blood, sir, you'll have to tell me what you were on when you donated," Fraiser teased with a devilish grin.
"Very funny, Doc. For once I'm serious, this really is like nothing I ever felt before, not even during the seventies."
Carter snapped her fingers. She ran her hand over the other bags of blood that Fraiser had laid out and then checked the ID tags. "You're sensing the naquada, sir. I've been wondering why you've never done that before, you should have been able to all along."
"Carter, I don't think I wanted to."
"I hear that, sir. You don't have nearly as much of it in your body as I do, but apparently enough to make Nirrti's machine work the way it's supposed to on the two of us. My arm works normally here, but it was an unholy mess back at the SGC."
Jack said, "Oh, my God. Sam, I moved back to let Jonas go ahead of me so he could get off his ankle. I was going to get out my binoculars and take a look around. That was when the gargoyle thing attacked. If it'd been him instead of me, the machine wouldn't have brought him back, would it?"
Sam had gone white. "I think it might have brought his body back."
"So Kanen's the reason why I'm not some kind of a walking vegetable right now?"
"That sounds altogether possible."
O'Neill's breath hissed through clenched teeth and one hand went involuntarily to his chest. "Oh, crap! Now, this hurts."
Fraiser indicated the monitor. "Your heart is beginning to work again. It's beating rapidly and irregularly because your blood pressure is still so low. I think it'll convert on its own once we get more blood and fluids in you. The pains are muscle spasms."
"Then I'm going to be able to go home?"
"I think so, sir."
For a long moment he lay back closed his eyes and let the relief wash over him.
Carter fit the healing device on her hand and started to work on her arm. Fraiser snipped the bandages away to watch the wounds close. It left Carter with the same odd scarring as O'Neill's stab wounds, fine lines that looked as if the triangular rents had been glued back in place. That took a long time. Fraiser hung three more bags of blood before Carter was done with her repairs. Carter flexed her arm a few times. "Well, sir, we'll know if you can leave here the next time I gate home."
"Carter, if I get stuck here--"
"You won't," she insisted.
He winced and then his expression went blank as he rode out another muscle spasm. He felt short of breath, and then he realized that must mean his blood was carrying oxygen again.
The tachycardia wasn't converting on its own and it was getting damn uncomfortable. Fraiser injected something into his IV that made him feel like he was on a runaway elevator. He gasped for breath a couple of times, but then the unpleasant sensation passed, and he realized his heartbeat was back to normal. He just felt really tired.
Sam's experimental trip back through the gate was a success. She reported back, "My arm looks OK, Janet."
"All right, we're bringing him through."
O'Neill was riding in a basket stretcher carried by a couple of SG-2. Teal'c had never left his side the entire trip back. After a few tense moments, it became clear that he was doing well on his own and no longer needed Nirrti's device. Fraiser put him and Carter both in the infirmary over night.
O'Neill shifted uncomfortably in the briefing room chair. This had been one of the weirdest debriefings in a while. He had slept through most of the last four days, so he was hearing the scientists' findings for the first time at this briefing.
Carter summed up, "The really ironic thing about it was that Nirrti's experiment was a success. She never knew because none of her victims had naquada in their blood. Their bodies continued to function, even when there was nothing left except bones and an energy field. Unfortunately, they all went completely insane. If she'd had the guts to experiment on herself she would have learned that the presence of even a trace amount of naquada prevents the mental side effects, essentially allowing an unlimited time to treat injuries or to recover from diseases."
Hammond said, "A lot of people would call your survival a miracle, Colonel."
"Well, it didn't seem like it when I thought I was going to be marooned on the planet. I'm not sure I'd disagree with them now that I'm home, sir."
"As fascinating as all this is, since it's useless to all but the two of you, I'm afraid we don't have the funding for any further study. The Tok'ra are very interested, though."
"Interested enough to trade something worthwhile, sir?" O'Neill sounded more sarcastic than hopeful about that.
Hammond laughed, on the same page as his 2iC. "I'm not putting any money on that. SG-1 is on stand down for a week, and we'll see where it goes from there."
Teal'c took advantage of the downtime to visit his son, and Jonas had already made plans with his friends. O'Neill and Carter walked out of the complex with Sirikat.
"Hey, Carter, we're gonna be mall rats tomorrow. Want to come with?"
"Sure," she smiled.
"I'll pick you up about nine. We can get those big cinnamon rolls you like so much, Punkin."
Sirikat smiled up at him. She didn't care what they did or where they went. Her thoughts had been one long prayer of thanks ever since he had come back through the gate.
Sirikat had asked General Hammond not to say anything to O'Neill yet, so that he could enjoy his leave. They had word from Washington that, since the situation in the mideast had settled down, military advisors were now available to send to Daltregon. Soon she would be going home--and going to war. A few days here, and if she was lucky a few days in her village, didn't seem so much to ask.
O'Neill yanked her braid. She jumped for his cap and led a merry chase around the parking lot, all of them laughing in the sunshine. The cool mountain breeze carried the scent of wildflowers.
Horsing around with his two favorite girls, O'Neill knew how close he had come to losing all this, and it was all the sweeter for knowing that. He finally cornered Sirikat and rescued his cap. The afterlife was just going to have to wait a while. Heaven was right here.
end