Unseen and Unspoken
Part 16 of the Asgard Sequence
Sequel to 'Slugs, Snails, and Puppy Dog's Tails'
By Gumnut
Oct 2003
Before his very eyes, Major Carter flickered, rippled and disappeared.
"Major Carter!"
"Teal'c, I'm fine." The voice came out of thin air.
The Jaffa moved forward, his hand searching the space where the Major had been.
His hand met something soft.
The thin air squawked. "Teal'c, watch where you put your hands!"
He jerked back. "My apologies, Major Carter."
"Sam, you're completely invisible." Daniel Jackson looked stunned. "If I didn't know better, I wouldn't know you were there. No shadow, nothing."
"Well, I'm still here. My vision is a little hazy, though, possibly interference."
"Can you see yourself?"
There was the sound of rustling fabric before she replied. "No, and that will make things a little interesting." She paused, and Teal'c was about to ask another question, but she continued, sounding resolute. "Okay. It's time we got out of here."
**********
Once the anti-surveillance device was deactivated, it didn't take long for a guard to come and investigate the fact that three very important captives had gone missing. The moment he walked in the door to investigate, Teal'c had overpowered him, taken his weapon, and stunned him. A careful investigation of the corridor proved it to be empty, and they made their initial escape.
They crept through corridors dodging passing Asgard. In fact avoiding the aliens was easier than avoiding themselves. It is hard to avoid someone you can't see.
Daniel Jackson managed to step on Major Carter's feet twice, who in turn had managed to trip over Teal'c at least once, but they made good progress.
The big question was where had their captors taken O'Neill? They searched methodically praying that they hadn't taken him too far away.
And they had to be quiet.
They couldn't be seen, but they definitely could be heard.
Nevertheless, when they did find the Colonel, the scientists responsible didn't know what hit them.
**********
Jack O'Neill had known pain in his life, but this was worse.
It was the absence of pain.
An absence of everything.
His mind wrestled with it. He could feel nothing but warm fluid. It soaked through his uniform, curling up against his skin, caressing his eyelids.
But worst of all was breathing it.
Panic at every breath. Lungs not designed to move liquid, strained to meet his body's demands.
He could see little. Hear little. Everything was muffled.
Except for his sense of taste.
This stuff tasted like crap.
If only he could spit it out.
His whole world had been reduced to the basics of life.
Breathe in, breathe out. Live.
It continued like this for an unknown amount of time as the very concept of time was stolen from his existence.
Eventually he felt himself slipping away. He struggled to focus.
It was important to stay.
Though he couldn't remember why.
Focus.
There must be something in the fluid. He tried to hold his breath.
No breath to hold.
No sensation to stimulate his struggle.
He slipped further, drowning in his own mind, desperately clinging to one thought. A life buoy.
Three pairs of eyes.
And a trust given to no-one else.
**********
It was a laboratory. Sam would recognise one anywhere. Five Asgard were in attendance, including Kalta and two armed guards.
The body of Colonel O'Neill floated in a tank in the middle of the room.
He looked pale, almost dead, a ghostly wraith, bubbles lazily drifted past his skin.
Something inside her broke, she just couldn't take it anymore.
The two guards suddenly found themselves minus their weapons, as the very air in the room stole them from their hands, and turned them on those they were there to protect. The Asgard fell like autumn leaves from trees caught in a windy day.
The weapon was cool in her hand, but did little to stave off her fury.
She couldn't see Daniel or Teal'c, but she presumed it was Teal'c who suddenly wrestled Kalta to the ground.
She was wrong.
It was Daniel.
His voice was rough with strain as he hissed into the scientist's ear. "What have you done?"
Kalta's eyes darted about as if looking for purchase. "Doctor Jackson?"
Sam could feel the anger emanating from the invisible archeologist. It echoed her own. "Who I am is not important. What have you done to Jack O'Neill?"
"He is the saviour of our race."
The air took in a breath. "I will only say it one more time. If you do not answer you will die. What have you done to Jack O'Neill?"
The Asgard ceased struggling emitting a resigned sigh. "I have done nothing. I was merely preparing him for genetic manipulation."
Genetic manipulation? Again? Hadn't the man gone through enough?
Sam's turn to question. "Can he be safely removed from the tank?"
Kalta peered in her direction from his place on the floor. "Ah, Major Carter, I'm not likely to tell you that, now am I?"
Kalta's sudden yelp of pain was the only indication of Daniel's reaction to that statement. Sam guessed that Kalta was walking a very fine line with the archeologist.
He was lucky. Sam doubted she would have been that restrained.
She sensed, rather than saw, Teal'c hovering around the tank. The anxiety in the air was tangible.
And they had to hurry. Who knew what surveillance was in this room. Security could beam in at any moment.
She made the decision.
"Teal'c get him out of there."
There was the sound of splashing as Kalta protested. "No! You don't understand. There's a life at stake."
Her voice was deathly calm. "Yes, we know. Colonel O'Neill's."
Kalta whimpered as Teal'c lifted the sodden form into the laboratory's life giving air. Sam rushed over, leaving Kalta to the mercies of Daniel.
"Lay him down, Teal'c. Turn him over. We need to get that fluid out of him."
He looked so pale, so drawn. It was happening again. How many times did she have to watch this man dance with death?
How many times could she nearly die inside?
She knelt down, desperate to find a pulse. His skin was, thankfully, warm, but sticky beneath her fingers. A fluttering movement stabilised her heart.
His eyelids fluttered.
She was spared yet again.
**********
Jack O'Neill's world shattered back to reality as a force pulled him from the depths of his senseless tomb.
Cold air hit his skin as the thin viscous fluid ran from his body.
Voices. There were voices.
"Lay him down, Teal'c. Turn him over. We need to get that fluid out of him."
Carter?
Warm fingers touched his throat, drifting across his cheek.
His eyelids blinked desperately, trying to clear his vision with little success.
He opened his mouth to speak but he had no voice.
"Colonel?"
Again he tried to speak, but something was preventing him.
"Colonel, you need to breathe."
Breathe?
"Damn it, sir! Breathe!"
Never one to disobey an order, Jack expanded his diaphragm.
Oh, god. He couldn't inhale. Panic welled in his mind.
He felt a pressure on his back, a swell in his chest, and he was suddenly coughing as if his insides wanted out.
He ended up on his hands and knees, broken arm and all, vomiting fluid into a rapidly expanding puddle on the floor, taking deep gasping breaths. A soft hand rested on the back of his neck, while stronger arms supported him.
He looked up expecting to see Carter and Teal'c, but the room was empty.
He attempted to get to his feet to scramble away from his unseen captors, but he was too sick to stand, and too weak to break free.
"Colonel. Colonel!" Sam's voice again. "It's us, sir. Daniel, Teal'c and Sam."
He ceased struggling. "I c....can't see you." He darted his eyes around the room, and reached out a trembling hand. It was captured by that same soft hand that had been on his neck. But there was still nothing there. "Where are you?"
"Sir, remember the devices. The Box." She paused as if waiting for his response. "Thor."
Pieces fell slowly into place in his fuzzy mind. "Thor. Thor needs our help."
"Yes, sir, and we need to get out of here now."
He was picked up again, the motion disturbing his still fragile breathing, and he burst into a laboured spasm of coughing that sent black spots dancing across his already blurry vision. "Carter, I can walk."
"I don't think you can, sir. Teal'c can carry you."
"Damnit! I c-" More fluid dribbled down his chin to moisten his already soaked collar.
"Colonel, I need to activate your shielding device, where did you hide it?"
His sudden vision of the answer to that question set him squirming. "I'll....I'll do it." Then he said warningly, "Carter, don't look."
She sighed. "I'm not looking."
He would never know if she was anyway.
Grabbing the gadget, he slipped it under his sodden shirt, attaching it to the skin of his chest, activating it as Thor had instructed. God, he hoped it was waterproof.
His body disappeared.
Now that was the weirdest feeling.
Then he coughed.
Drops of fluid appeared in mid air and fell to the ground. He could feel his team's eyes on him.
"Sir, you are going to have to try to be quiet."
"Obviously, Carter." He finally noticed Kalta squirming on the floor. "What's wrong with him?"
"Uh, I think Daniel has his knee in the middle of his back."
Jack narrowed his eyes at the man who had tried to destroy his soul. He still had pity for the Asgard, but no sympathy remained. "He is coming with us."
"Sir?"
"We may need a hostage."
Tactics 101.
"Yes, sir."
And with that, an invisible Daniel hauled Kalta to his feet and they left.
**********
Jack O'Neill was a heavy man, though more unwieldy because of his shape rather than his weight.
And he continually wriggled.
Teal'c knew that O'Neill was doing his best to stave off his coughing fits. Twice they had had to duck into unoccupied rooms to give him a chance to clear his throat of that vile liquid substance, and Teal'c could feel the small tremors that shook O'Neill's traumatized body.
But weak as he may be, he still couldn't keep still.
An elbow in his ribs was the last straw.
"O'Neill, if you do not cease movement immediately, I will be forced to drop you."
A muffled grunt was the only reply, but the body in his arms became still.
For at least the next two minutes, where upon O'Neill simply started wriggling again.
Teal'c sighed.
They had found that by sticking items under their clothing they were able to hide them. This avoided the appearance of two weapons floating down the hallway, and Daniel had Kalta leading them towards the exit. Apparently they were underground. Daniel had also forced the scientist to walk normally as if he was alone, and it was working well until they ran into Tala.
"Kalta, did it work?" The traitorous Asgard hurried over to their captive, completely unaware of SG-1's presence.
Kalta cleared his throat. "It did not go well, Tala. I was interrupted by important business."
Immediately Tala's expression became one of suspicion. "What could be more important than your son's life?"
Kalta must have communicated something, because Tala suddenly pulled a weapon.
He didn't have a chance.
Two separate volleys of fire appeared out of nowhere as both Major Carter and Daniel Jackson abruptly ended his nefarious career.
"Oops." Daniel muttered.
Teal'c heard Major Carter sigh. "I only intended to stun him."
Teal'c did not bother with any paltry regrets. "He deserved no less."
Kalta was stunned. "How could you?"
Daniel was unsympathetic. "No, how could you?" The Asgard was shoved forward and they resumed their hurried way out.
***********
Jack's lungs burned.
He struggled to hold his coughing spasms at bay, but they continued to hammer at him.
And he was covered in goo. He now knew exactly how Bill Murray had felt when he was slimed.
Teal'c still carried him, and while he did feel grateful, he didn't like it in the slightest. It took away control, and to O'Neill, control was a religion.
All in all, everything pretty much sucked.
But on the positive side of things, they were making an escape.
They finally ended up in a room at the end of a corridor that seemed to go nowhere. A familiar control panel stood in the middle of the floor. Great, beam me up, Scotty.
Carter's voice confidently came from the direction of said control panel. "I can work this, sir. Looks like we can go just about anywhere on the planet. Any preferences in particular?"
Jack's answer was immediate. "Septula Garden, Septo Province."
He was surprised when no one asked him anything. Such was their trust in him.
"Set, sir."
Jack looked at Kalta. "We don't need our hostage anymore."
Kalta looked directly at him, even though he knew the alien couldn't see him. "O'Neill, I will do what I must to save our people."
"And so will I." He paused. "Daniel, shoot him."
"Jack?"
"Just stun him, Daniel. I'm not ready to kill him....yet."
"Oh, okay." The alien crumpled in a flash of fire.
"Do it, Carter."
The world disappeared to be replaced by the beautiful Othallan Garden."
But the guns pointed at them were not held by plants.
**********
FIN.
Part 16 of the Asgard Sequence
Sequel to 'Slugs, Snails, and Puppy Dog's Tails'
By Gumnut
Oct 2003
Before his very eyes, Major Carter flickered, rippled and disappeared.
"Major Carter!"
"Teal'c, I'm fine." The voice came out of thin air.
The Jaffa moved forward, his hand searching the space where the Major had been.
His hand met something soft.
The thin air squawked. "Teal'c, watch where you put your hands!"
He jerked back. "My apologies, Major Carter."
"Sam, you're completely invisible." Daniel Jackson looked stunned. "If I didn't know better, I wouldn't know you were there. No shadow, nothing."
"Well, I'm still here. My vision is a little hazy, though, possibly interference."
"Can you see yourself?"
There was the sound of rustling fabric before she replied. "No, and that will make things a little interesting." She paused, and Teal'c was about to ask another question, but she continued, sounding resolute. "Okay. It's time we got out of here."
**********
Once the anti-surveillance device was deactivated, it didn't take long for a guard to come and investigate the fact that three very important captives had gone missing. The moment he walked in the door to investigate, Teal'c had overpowered him, taken his weapon, and stunned him. A careful investigation of the corridor proved it to be empty, and they made their initial escape.
They crept through corridors dodging passing Asgard. In fact avoiding the aliens was easier than avoiding themselves. It is hard to avoid someone you can't see.
Daniel Jackson managed to step on Major Carter's feet twice, who in turn had managed to trip over Teal'c at least once, but they made good progress.
The big question was where had their captors taken O'Neill? They searched methodically praying that they hadn't taken him too far away.
And they had to be quiet.
They couldn't be seen, but they definitely could be heard.
Nevertheless, when they did find the Colonel, the scientists responsible didn't know what hit them.
**********
Jack O'Neill had known pain in his life, but this was worse.
It was the absence of pain.
An absence of everything.
His mind wrestled with it. He could feel nothing but warm fluid. It soaked through his uniform, curling up against his skin, caressing his eyelids.
But worst of all was breathing it.
Panic at every breath. Lungs not designed to move liquid, strained to meet his body's demands.
He could see little. Hear little. Everything was muffled.
Except for his sense of taste.
This stuff tasted like crap.
If only he could spit it out.
His whole world had been reduced to the basics of life.
Breathe in, breathe out. Live.
It continued like this for an unknown amount of time as the very concept of time was stolen from his existence.
Eventually he felt himself slipping away. He struggled to focus.
It was important to stay.
Though he couldn't remember why.
Focus.
There must be something in the fluid. He tried to hold his breath.
No breath to hold.
No sensation to stimulate his struggle.
He slipped further, drowning in his own mind, desperately clinging to one thought. A life buoy.
Three pairs of eyes.
And a trust given to no-one else.
**********
It was a laboratory. Sam would recognise one anywhere. Five Asgard were in attendance, including Kalta and two armed guards.
The body of Colonel O'Neill floated in a tank in the middle of the room.
He looked pale, almost dead, a ghostly wraith, bubbles lazily drifted past his skin.
Something inside her broke, she just couldn't take it anymore.
The two guards suddenly found themselves minus their weapons, as the very air in the room stole them from their hands, and turned them on those they were there to protect. The Asgard fell like autumn leaves from trees caught in a windy day.
The weapon was cool in her hand, but did little to stave off her fury.
She couldn't see Daniel or Teal'c, but she presumed it was Teal'c who suddenly wrestled Kalta to the ground.
She was wrong.
It was Daniel.
His voice was rough with strain as he hissed into the scientist's ear. "What have you done?"
Kalta's eyes darted about as if looking for purchase. "Doctor Jackson?"
Sam could feel the anger emanating from the invisible archeologist. It echoed her own. "Who I am is not important. What have you done to Jack O'Neill?"
"He is the saviour of our race."
The air took in a breath. "I will only say it one more time. If you do not answer you will die. What have you done to Jack O'Neill?"
The Asgard ceased struggling emitting a resigned sigh. "I have done nothing. I was merely preparing him for genetic manipulation."
Genetic manipulation? Again? Hadn't the man gone through enough?
Sam's turn to question. "Can he be safely removed from the tank?"
Kalta peered in her direction from his place on the floor. "Ah, Major Carter, I'm not likely to tell you that, now am I?"
Kalta's sudden yelp of pain was the only indication of Daniel's reaction to that statement. Sam guessed that Kalta was walking a very fine line with the archeologist.
He was lucky. Sam doubted she would have been that restrained.
She sensed, rather than saw, Teal'c hovering around the tank. The anxiety in the air was tangible.
And they had to hurry. Who knew what surveillance was in this room. Security could beam in at any moment.
She made the decision.
"Teal'c get him out of there."
There was the sound of splashing as Kalta protested. "No! You don't understand. There's a life at stake."
Her voice was deathly calm. "Yes, we know. Colonel O'Neill's."
Kalta whimpered as Teal'c lifted the sodden form into the laboratory's life giving air. Sam rushed over, leaving Kalta to the mercies of Daniel.
"Lay him down, Teal'c. Turn him over. We need to get that fluid out of him."
He looked so pale, so drawn. It was happening again. How many times did she have to watch this man dance with death?
How many times could she nearly die inside?
She knelt down, desperate to find a pulse. His skin was, thankfully, warm, but sticky beneath her fingers. A fluttering movement stabilised her heart.
His eyelids fluttered.
She was spared yet again.
**********
Jack O'Neill's world shattered back to reality as a force pulled him from the depths of his senseless tomb.
Cold air hit his skin as the thin viscous fluid ran from his body.
Voices. There were voices.
"Lay him down, Teal'c. Turn him over. We need to get that fluid out of him."
Carter?
Warm fingers touched his throat, drifting across his cheek.
His eyelids blinked desperately, trying to clear his vision with little success.
He opened his mouth to speak but he had no voice.
"Colonel?"
Again he tried to speak, but something was preventing him.
"Colonel, you need to breathe."
Breathe?
"Damn it, sir! Breathe!"
Never one to disobey an order, Jack expanded his diaphragm.
Oh, god. He couldn't inhale. Panic welled in his mind.
He felt a pressure on his back, a swell in his chest, and he was suddenly coughing as if his insides wanted out.
He ended up on his hands and knees, broken arm and all, vomiting fluid into a rapidly expanding puddle on the floor, taking deep gasping breaths. A soft hand rested on the back of his neck, while stronger arms supported him.
He looked up expecting to see Carter and Teal'c, but the room was empty.
He attempted to get to his feet to scramble away from his unseen captors, but he was too sick to stand, and too weak to break free.
"Colonel. Colonel!" Sam's voice again. "It's us, sir. Daniel, Teal'c and Sam."
He ceased struggling. "I c....can't see you." He darted his eyes around the room, and reached out a trembling hand. It was captured by that same soft hand that had been on his neck. But there was still nothing there. "Where are you?"
"Sir, remember the devices. The Box." She paused as if waiting for his response. "Thor."
Pieces fell slowly into place in his fuzzy mind. "Thor. Thor needs our help."
"Yes, sir, and we need to get out of here now."
He was picked up again, the motion disturbing his still fragile breathing, and he burst into a laboured spasm of coughing that sent black spots dancing across his already blurry vision. "Carter, I can walk."
"I don't think you can, sir. Teal'c can carry you."
"Damnit! I c-" More fluid dribbled down his chin to moisten his already soaked collar.
"Colonel, I need to activate your shielding device, where did you hide it?"
His sudden vision of the answer to that question set him squirming. "I'll....I'll do it." Then he said warningly, "Carter, don't look."
She sighed. "I'm not looking."
He would never know if she was anyway.
Grabbing the gadget, he slipped it under his sodden shirt, attaching it to the skin of his chest, activating it as Thor had instructed. God, he hoped it was waterproof.
His body disappeared.
Now that was the weirdest feeling.
Then he coughed.
Drops of fluid appeared in mid air and fell to the ground. He could feel his team's eyes on him.
"Sir, you are going to have to try to be quiet."
"Obviously, Carter." He finally noticed Kalta squirming on the floor. "What's wrong with him?"
"Uh, I think Daniel has his knee in the middle of his back."
Jack narrowed his eyes at the man who had tried to destroy his soul. He still had pity for the Asgard, but no sympathy remained. "He is coming with us."
"Sir?"
"We may need a hostage."
Tactics 101.
"Yes, sir."
And with that, an invisible Daniel hauled Kalta to his feet and they left.
**********
Jack O'Neill was a heavy man, though more unwieldy because of his shape rather than his weight.
And he continually wriggled.
Teal'c knew that O'Neill was doing his best to stave off his coughing fits. Twice they had had to duck into unoccupied rooms to give him a chance to clear his throat of that vile liquid substance, and Teal'c could feel the small tremors that shook O'Neill's traumatized body.
But weak as he may be, he still couldn't keep still.
An elbow in his ribs was the last straw.
"O'Neill, if you do not cease movement immediately, I will be forced to drop you."
A muffled grunt was the only reply, but the body in his arms became still.
For at least the next two minutes, where upon O'Neill simply started wriggling again.
Teal'c sighed.
They had found that by sticking items under their clothing they were able to hide them. This avoided the appearance of two weapons floating down the hallway, and Daniel had Kalta leading them towards the exit. Apparently they were underground. Daniel had also forced the scientist to walk normally as if he was alone, and it was working well until they ran into Tala.
"Kalta, did it work?" The traitorous Asgard hurried over to their captive, completely unaware of SG-1's presence.
Kalta cleared his throat. "It did not go well, Tala. I was interrupted by important business."
Immediately Tala's expression became one of suspicion. "What could be more important than your son's life?"
Kalta must have communicated something, because Tala suddenly pulled a weapon.
He didn't have a chance.
Two separate volleys of fire appeared out of nowhere as both Major Carter and Daniel Jackson abruptly ended his nefarious career.
"Oops." Daniel muttered.
Teal'c heard Major Carter sigh. "I only intended to stun him."
Teal'c did not bother with any paltry regrets. "He deserved no less."
Kalta was stunned. "How could you?"
Daniel was unsympathetic. "No, how could you?" The Asgard was shoved forward and they resumed their hurried way out.
***********
Jack's lungs burned.
He struggled to hold his coughing spasms at bay, but they continued to hammer at him.
And he was covered in goo. He now knew exactly how Bill Murray had felt when he was slimed.
Teal'c still carried him, and while he did feel grateful, he didn't like it in the slightest. It took away control, and to O'Neill, control was a religion.
All in all, everything pretty much sucked.
But on the positive side of things, they were making an escape.
They finally ended up in a room at the end of a corridor that seemed to go nowhere. A familiar control panel stood in the middle of the floor. Great, beam me up, Scotty.
Carter's voice confidently came from the direction of said control panel. "I can work this, sir. Looks like we can go just about anywhere on the planet. Any preferences in particular?"
Jack's answer was immediate. "Septula Garden, Septo Province."
He was surprised when no one asked him anything. Such was their trust in him.
"Set, sir."
Jack looked at Kalta. "We don't need our hostage anymore."
Kalta looked directly at him, even though he knew the alien couldn't see him. "O'Neill, I will do what I must to save our people."
"And so will I." He paused. "Daniel, shoot him."
"Jack?"
"Just stun him, Daniel. I'm not ready to kill him....yet."
"Oh, okay." The alien crumpled in a flash of fire.
"Do it, Carter."
The world disappeared to be replaced by the beautiful Othallan Garden."
But the guns pointed at them were not held by plants.
**********
FIN.