And the story continues…

Camp Go'auld

Part six

Jack stood in the doorway of the temporary medical facility taking in the activity that was going on, his eyes searching for one particular person. He found her at last, surrounded by medics and issuing orders with Jacob Carter standing close by waiting patiently to speak to her. Jack made his way over just as Jacob was able to get Dr Fraiser's attention at last.

'Sorry about that General,' Janet apologised, running her fingers through her hair and taking a deep breath. 'Everything seems to be happening at once. Colonel,' Janet acknowledged Jack's arrival before returning to Jacob. 'How are the injuries?' She took a good look at him, assessing his condition and noting that there seemed to be little wrong with him now.

'I'm fine, thanks,' Jacob smiled sympathetically at her, seeing the tiredness but also the underlying strength which kept her going despite having worked through the night. 'Selmak has done a good job. Now, what were you saying about some of the long term affects on these people?'

'Perhaps we should take this into my office?' Janet suggested, leading the way into a smaller room away from the bustle and prying ears. They sat themselves down, Jacob and Janet in the two chairs in the room, Jack perching on the edge of the desk. 'For the most part, the drugs weren't taken long enough to have any lasting impact, other than to affect the short term memory. Basically, they won't have any recollection of what took place here which actually works in our favour. Unfortunately, there are a few who were subjected to the drug for longer and their neural pathways have started to degrade in the targeted areas.'

'You mean like those drugs Martin Lloyd was taking to make him forget where he came from?' Jack asked, surprised that he was following the explanation.

'Almost,' Janet smiled at him, trying to keep things simple. 'Their long term memories have been compromised, but so have their cognitive skills and if they aren't treated soon, they will lose the ability to regenerate the damaged areas and could end up needing to be in care for the rest of their lives. There isn't anything I can do for them.'

'The Tok'ra can help,' Jacob spoke up. 'We've come across similar circumstances and we've been able to synthesise something which will reverse the effects, we can also make sure it will keep the short term memory a little hazy to prevent any accidental disclosures.'

'What do you need?' Jack asked.

'I need to return to explain to Anise what is required,' Jacob replied, smiling at Jack's expected reaction.

'Isn't there anyone else?' Jack spoke up. 'Anyone at all? I mean, who knows what we'll end up with if Anise gets her hands on these people.'

'Jack, you have my word that she will provide only what is needed and nothing more. You do trust me don't you?' Jacob raised his eyebrows, questioning.

Jack thought for a moment then sighed deeply. 'I guess so. You're the only Tok'ra I do trust, mind you, so you better not let us down, I'd hate for us to have anything come between us.'

'Ok. I'd better get going. I'll let you know as soon as we've got something.' With that, Jacob was gone.

*********

'So what's all the fuss about?' Jack had been summoned from the medical unit by Sam.

'I thought you might be interested in what we found, sir,' Sam smiled broadly, anticipating Jack's reaction to their find. She stood to one side of the out-building and shone her flashlight in to the interior. Jack took one step forward, then snatched the flashlight out of Sam's hands before walking into the cramped area, whistling loudly.

'Excellent!' Jack exclaimed, 'At least we got something out of this after all. If we can't have Anubis's ship, at least we get his armoury. Good work Major.' Jack wandered around the shelving, picking up a weapon here and there, studying it before putting it back down again. 'Get Major Pearce's team to pack this lot up to ship out to the SGC.'

Jack left the armoury and walked with Sam towards the remains of the house. 'Anything else I should know about?' He asked.

'Not really, sir,' Sam responded. 'We found three bodies, but there's not much left of them. I thought maybe Colonel Simmons might be interested. Want me to bag them up and send them on to him?' Sam grinned mischievously. No-one liked the NID Colonel who seemed determined to dog their every move and had loudly bemoaned the loss of Anubis's ship which had seemed like a gift horse at the time. He hadn't said anything aloud, but the members of SG1 were fairly certain he considered they had crashed the ship on purpose.

Jack looked at the badly burnt bodies then sighed. 'No, I guess we better not. Just make sure they're disposed of appropriately.'

'Yes sir. I think we should be done in a day or so, then we can hand over to the local authorities to finish up here,' Sam advised Jack before returning to overseeing the clean-up operations.

*********

'Colonel O'Neill?' A young lieutenant came hurrying up to Jack. 'Dr Fraiser just called, she's asked if you can meet her at the hospital as soon as possible.'

Jack acknowledged the message, wondering what could have gone wrong now. He was really starting to feel his age and these last few days had been pretty intense. Tackling off-world missions was so much easier than having to think up some cover story for the locals and maintain a tight lid on the security of this operation. He thought fondly of his couch, a cold beer and a hockey game.

'What's the problem, doc?' Jack asked on his arrival, meeting Dr Fraiser outside Kerry's private room. 'I thought she was doing alright, are there complications?'

'She's recovering well from her physical injuries but she is showing signs of stress,' Dr Fraiser informed Jack, ploughing on before Jack could ask why he had been summoned. 'She's got a lot of concerns about what has happened and is asking questions. I've tried to answer what I can and Jonas has been spending some time with her, but frankly, sir, I think she needs a proper debriefing.'

'I have been a little busy recently, doc,' Jack spoke irritably, feeling a little put out that he had been called away just for this. 'Surely it can wait a few more days?' Dr Fraiser didn't need to say anything further, the look on her face told Jack everything and he sighed before tapping on the door and walking in.

***********

Jonas had arrived a couple of hours earlier. He'd been to see her a few times, but Kerry had a feeling that something very strange was going on when she talked to him.

'You're not from round here are you?' Kerry asked Jonas.

'How do you mean?' Jonas looked at her quizzically, not understanding what she was getting at.

'Where do you come from?' Kerry changed tack.

'Colorado,' Jonas replied, still looking confused. 'Why?'

'Well, it's just that you don't seem to understand half of what I'm talking about,' Kerry said, jumping in with both feet. 'You make the right noises, but you don't really show any comprehension of what I'm saying. For example - what's your favourite TV show?'

'The weather channel,' Jonas smiled as he responded.

'You're kidding me right?' Kerry stared at him. 'Why?'

'I just find it fascinating how so many different kinds of weather there can be from one side of the world to the other,' Jonas said.

'Ok. Where did you last go on vacation?' Kerry threw another one in.

Jonas had to think a little harder now, he hadn't been many places but his mind fixed on the first place he had visited. 'Nevada.'

'Las Vegas?' Kerry asked for more information.

'No, Nevada,' Jonas said, wondering if she was trying to trick him.

'There - that's exactly what I mean,' Kerry said, not looking particularly pleased at catching him out, in fact she looked even more despondent than ever.

'I'm sorry - I don't understand…' Jonas tried to find out what was going on.

'That's it exactly,' Kerry said, allowing her frustration and fear to overcome her natural reserve. 'You haven't a clue. Yesterday, when I was talking about the Lord of the Rings movies, you'd never heard of them, you've never heard of James Bond or Harry Potter and that's just for starters. And for your information, Las Vegas is in Nevada. What planet are you from for crying out loud?'

Jack walked in at the tail end of this conversation, rolling his eyes as he realised it had probably been a bad idea to let Jonas spend so much time on his own with Kerry.

'Is there a problem?' He asked mildly, ignoring the altercation.

'Yes there is,' Kerry said, sitting more upright now, trying to keep her nerves under control at the arrival of a very formal sounding Colonel O'Neill. 'You shoved me in this place with a guard on the door like I'm a prisoner or something. You mumbled something about a debriefing then you disappear and I'm left not knowing what the hell is going on and feeling like crap after I helped you sort out whatever was going on in those woods.'

'Ah,' Jack said, beginning to understand. 'I know how this must look…'

'No you don't,' Kerry broke in, not letting him finish his sentence. 'You're the one in charge here and are giving all the orders. You know exactly what is going on and in control of it all, how can you possibly know how it looks to me? It just looks like you're scared I might have found out something about some stupid military secret, but you know what? I don't care about what happened. I just want to get out of here and get back home where I don't have some idiot following orders trailing round after me. I do have a life you know, unlike certain people in this room.' Kerry finished up casting a disparaging look at Jonas.

'Fair enough, I guess I deserved that,' Jack said calmly, watching her carefully. Kerry's face was flushed with the effort of making this speech and he could see her breathing faster as her lungs tried to catch up. 'I know it's not going to help you much, but there's been a lot to sort out and make sure it's safe before we hand over to the local people to finish up and there isn't much I can tell you about what's going on.'

'I know - national security,' Kerry sounded resigned to not being told anything else. 'Why the guard though?'

'It's possible you heard something which we need to know about, the guard can make sure if you do remember anything then you've got someone to tell about it,' Jack explained.

'Uh huh,' Kerry said, not sounding entirely convinced but recognising that she wasn't going to get much more information out of him. Dr Fraiser appeared at her side, checking her pulse. 'What?' She snapped, the combination of tiredness, pain and frustration becoming evident.

'Your temperature is up slightly,' Janet informed her, ignoring the display of temper. 'But that's hardly surprising. How are you feeling?'

Kerry considered lying for a moment, then figured it just seemed like too much trouble at the moment and said, 'I've got a headache and I'm tired. My ribs are bothering me as well.'

'Ok, well that will improve in a day or two, in the meantime…' Janet handed her a cup of water and a couple of pills which she took and swallowed obediently.

'Kerry, I'm really sorry about all this, but the guard does need to stay outside for a while longer. We're nearly finished up there now and we'll be back to go through all this with you in a day or two. Ok?' Jack looked at Kerry who had settled herself back down on her pillows and was looking up at him through half-closed eyes. She nodded briefly in acceptance then closed her eyes, asleep before they left the room.

********

'Jonas, what exactly have you two been talking about?' Jack turned on Jonas the moment they were out of the room.

'Nothing much, Colonel,' Jonas said, trying to ease Jack's obvious anger. 'Kerry's been talking about her interests, I didn't say much at all, but I thought it would help her until you got chance to talk to her yourself. I hadn't realised I'd done anything to arouse suspicion.'

'I think it may be a good idea if…What?' Jack snapped out the last word at the guard who had come towards him.

'Dr Fraiser's needed back at the warehouse, sir,' the SF saluted smartly before resuming his station.

'Come on, let's get out of here,' Jack led the way to the car to take them back.

'What on earth…' Jack surveyed the scene in the side room where those suffering with the long term effects of the drug had been taken.

Teal'c was struggling with one of the patients who seemed to have acquired super-human strength and looked like he was on the verge of freeing himself from the Jaffa's grip.

'Teal'c?' Jack barked out a request for information.

'It appears the substance he was given is causing him to act irrationally,' Teal'c spoke calmly. 'I am attempting to prevent him from harming himself.'

Jack nodded, then watched as Janet cautiously approached, a needle in her hand. Jack moved to assist in holding the man still long enough for her to give the injection, but before he could reach him, the man began convulsing, the veins in his forehead throbbing. Within thirty seconds he was dead.

'What happened?' Jack demanded an answer.

'Without carrying out an autopsy it's difficult to be sure,' Janet replied, 'But I would say he suffered an aneurysm which then ruptured, probably caused by the drugs he'd been taking. We need to get that treatment from the Tok'ra asap if we don't want the same thing happening to the others.'

'I'll get on to General Hammond straight away,' Jack said, leaving the medics to deal with the aftermath.