Camp Go'auld
Part ten
Jack peered cautiously around the door of Kerry's VIP room the following morning to check up on her. He'd received no answer to his knocks and he was wary of walking in on her if she were dressing or something. His worries were unfounded however as he immediately saw her curled up in the middle of the double bed hugging a pillow and fast asleep. As he left the room he spoke to the guard on duty, asking to be informed the moment she woke up.
He'd been up half the night clearing up the base and discussing what to do about Kerry with the General and Carter.
'She was already aware of some of this before we even got here, this incident just serves to provide her with a few more pieces of the puzzle,' Sam had said. 'She's not stupid sir, we've got to come up with something to explain what happened.'
Jack stared at his feet for a few minutes, apparently oblivious to the discussion taking place between Hammond and Sam. He looked up at last to questioning looks from the two of them.
'We tell her everything,' Jack said abruptly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
'We what?' Hammond snapped.
'Sir?' Sam asked in confusion.
'She saw the 'gate in use, she saw the Jaffa and the weapons they have, she was aware of what was going on in Whitefish,' Jack explained. 'You said it yourself Carter, she's going to put two and two together and make five if we try to come up with some cover story. It'll be far less dangerous if we just tell her what goes on here.'
'Agreed,' Hammond had eventually said after a lengthy discussion.
Several hours later Jack was enjoying a well-earned break in the mess hall with Sam and Teal'c when Jack received a message to report to the infirmary.
'For crying out loud, can't this place run without me for half an hour,' Jack grumbled as he got to his feet and took his leave of the others, ignoring the smiles both were trying to conceal.
On his arrival, Jack was greeted by the SF assigned to Kerry.
'What the hell is going on here?' Jack demanded angrily, not believing that someone had slipped up again.
'I'm sorry sir, but…' The airman hesitated, adding to Jack's growing ire.
'But what airman?' Jack snapped.
'Miss Walters wanted to see how Jonas Quinn was, I asked her to wait as you wanted to see her but…' He swallowed uncomfortably and then continued. 'But she said if I didn't take her then she would find her own way, then she kind of pushed past me and headed off down the corridor. I figured it would be best to bring her here then let you know. I'm sorry, sir, but I just couldn't stop her without using force.'
Jack studied the man for a few moments then sighed and relaxed slightly. 'Very well, good work. Dismissed.' The SF, glad to be released made his escape quickly before the Colonel could say anything else.
As he headed to the far end of the infirmary, he was joined by Dr Fraiser.
'Doesn't she remind you of someone else we used to know?' Jack grumbled to her.
'Sir?' Janet asked, not understanding what he was getting at.
'Daniel was never where he was supposed to be either, chasing after some artefact or rescuing a damsel in distress,' Jack said, his eyes showing how much he missed their absent friend. 'It has to be something about academics that causes it, like they've got an extra gene or something that makes them ignore everything else that's going on.'
'Yes sir,' Janet smiled. 'You might want to observe for a few moments first,' Janet said, a twinkle in her eye as she led him to a curtained area at the bottom of the infirmary.
They stood outside and listened.
**************
'I never said thanks for saving my life,' Jonas was saying.
'I didn't really do anything,' Kerry said, shying away from this unexpected comment.
'Yes, you did,' Jonas replied. 'Dr Fraiser told me that if you hadn't stopped the bleeding and put me in the recovery position I'd probably be dead now and I really appreciate what you did.'
There was silence for a few moments, the listeners could almost feel the tension in the cubicle until Jonas spoke again.
'How are you doing?' Jonas asked, his voice gentle yet firm, demanding a truthful answer.
'I'm…' Kerry was interrupted by Jonas.
'Don't tell me you're fine, because I can see you're not. I'm pretty good at reading people and right now I can see that something is bothering you.' Jonas fell silent, allowing the silence to continue for a few moments until Kerry began speaking in a low voice.
'I saw some…things yesterday and I guess everything that's happened recently just kind of got to me,' Kerry said, hoping that this would be sufficient for Jonas, knowing deep down that he wouldn't settle for that. She was right, as he said nothing, waiting for her to continue. Taking a deep breath, she carried on. 'I saw those guards get killed and there was nothing I could do to help them, but then you got hurt as well and there was something I could do about that and it helped to push that image out of the way, helped me to get on with things. And then when I went to get someone, I saw…I saw…' Kerry stopped, her eyes growing distant as she tried to make sense of what she had seen in the control room.
'What did you see?' Jonas had his suspicions but kept reluctantly quiet, knowing he could not provide any form of explanation.
'There was a big circle in the next room and it looked like there was a puddle of water in the middle of it, but that would be impossible because it was standing upright and if it were water it wouldn't have stayed there. There were men wearing some kind of armour and they had strange weapons that fired bolts of energy. There was a lot of fighting and men getting hurt and the guys in armour were being pushed into the puddle and they disappeared, it was all a bit of a muddle really, then it was all over and a lot of soldiers looked like they were in bad shape. That's when Colonel O'Neill saw me and got a couple of medics to see to you.'
Kerry stopped talking, staring down at her hands which were twisting a glass. Jonas reached out and placed the glass on the cabinet, afraid it would break if she carried on playing with it.
'So how are you feeling?' Jonas asked, his eyes looking directly at Kerry, demanding she look at him. Kerry responded, looking into his face.
'Confused, tired.' Kerry stumbled over her words. 'Angry, upset. I mean, I've been brought here and no-one is telling me anything about why I'm here or when I can go. It almost seems like a bad dream, but then, my ribs are still sore, reminding me this is really happening and I don't know why. What the hell is going on Jonas?' Kerry's voice was gradually getting louder as she brought all her frustrations and emotions out into the open, looking straight at Jonas, for some kind of answer.
'I'm really sorry,' Jonas sounded uncomfortable. 'I can't tell you anything, but…'
'It's alright Jonas,' Jack stepped into the cubicle, saving Jonas from having to provide an unsatisfactory answer. 'You're looking a lot better than you did yesterday,' Jack said to Jonas before turning to Kerry. 'I overheard what you just said, Kerry.' Kerry looked down at her hands, not sure what to say or do. 'And you will get answers to your questions, but not just yet. Will you trust me on this?' Jack looked at Kerry, waiting for a response.
Kerry turned to Jonas, trying to read his expression, finally accepting Jonas's smile and nod as an indication that she should trust him. Turning to Jack, she nodded slowly, uncertainty still showing in her eyes.
'Thank you,' Jack's voice was quiet, not the authoritative tone he had used before and Kerry found herself warming to him. 'In that case…'
'Colonel,' Janet appeared at Jack's side, 'Jonas needs to get some rest now, and so does Kerry. I suggest you take Kerry back to her quarters after I check her over. Kerry, please come with me.' Kerry stood up and started to follow Dr Fraiser, unable to stop herself from obeying her, catching a glimpse of Jonas and Jack both rolling their eyes at the way Dr Fraiser had them all following her orders. Kerry gave them a quick smile, then left them alone.
***********
It was late the following morning when Kerry was once more shown in to the briefing room. She took a good look around and was surprised to see no indication of what had taken place there the day before: the glass had been replaced but there was no screen covering the window this time. She glanced at the floor where she had watched the two airmen die the previous day and shuddered. Sam hastily showed her to her seat, placing her with her back facing the window.
'Thank you for coming Kerry,' General Hammond began. 'I'm sorry about what you went through yesterday, are you sure you're feeling up to this?' Kerry nodded, her throat very dry making it difficult to say anything. 'Very well, Colonel, I'll hand over to you to explain what we do here.'
'Kerry,' Jack began, 'I guess you've probably noticed that there's something a little odd around here?' Kerry nodded.
'You saw that circle in the room downstairs and those men disappearing through it?' Jack didn't wait for a response this time. 'The circle is what we call a Stargate and when you input a series of symbols, it connects to other planets. The teams we have based here are part of what we call the SGC, Stargate Command, and they regularly go through to other planets to explore and to make allies who can help us out. Those men you saw yesterday were aliens, like the ones back at that compound where we found you.'
Kerry looked stunned and disbelieving, but the faces around the table gave no indication that this was a joke. She considered what she had been told for a few minutes, the room silent, waiting for Kerry to make the next move. Eventually she looked up at Jonas.
'You're an alien too?' She asked, beginning to believe what was going on, Jonas's odd mannerisms and lack of understanding making sense now. 'Is that why you recovered so quickly?' Kerry had been surprised to see Jonas at the briefing with only a little stiffness and a dressing on his forehead to show he had ever been injured. Jonas nodded, and looked at Teal'c, who pulled his hat off. Kerry gasped and jumped to her feet as she recognised that he belonged to the same group of people who had attacked yesterday and had been at the compound. Sam laid a restraining hand on her arm.
'It's ok,' Sam reassured her. 'Teal'c,' she searched for a word that would explain the situation simply, 'Defected and he works with us now - one of the good guys.' Kerry sat down again slowly, keeping a wary eye on Teal'c as though expecting him to start shooting at any time.
'So what's the deal here?' Kerry asked uncertainly.
'This is one of the best kept secrets in the world,' General Hammond said. 'Only the president and a select few members of the government are aware of what goes on here. When the 'gate was first opened, we managed to make ourselves an enemy of a parasitical race that dominate out there - the goa'uld. They are very powerful and seek to control everyone they find, they destroy anyone that stands in their way.'
'The goa'uld are determined to take earth out of the equation,' Sam took up the explanation. 'Closing the gate down isn't an option as they have ships which can reach us and we use the 'gate to make new allies and try to find ways in which we can defend ourselves.'
'Why are you telling me this?' Kerry looked doubtful. 'I mean, if this is all so top-secret, why tell me what's going on? Are you going to shoot me afterwards or something?'
'No, I don't think it'll come to that,' said Jack, a grin on his face.
'Kerry,' Jonas spoke up. 'We think that you may have some information that could help us. Without knowing what this is all about, you may not have understood the importance of what you know.'
'Who's Anubis?' Kerry asked abruptly, then explained further on seeing the expressions on the faces in front of her. 'Jacob said something about him and Sar'ash kept referring to him. I thought it was a code name or something, but maybe he's one of those Gold things. Is that what Jacob meant when he said there were good guys and bad guys? He's a Gold too isn't he?'
'Kind of,' Sam explained. 'The goa'uld look a bit like snakes and they take humans as hosts by wrapping themselves around the spinal cord, Jacob - my father - is a Tok'ra. Basically he carries a symbiote similar to the goa'uld, but the Tok'ra-host relationship is a true symbiotic relationship and they both survive. The goa'uld suppresses the host's personality and rules by fear.' Kerry nodded her understanding.
'The Tok'ra are our allies,' Sam continued, ignoring the snort that came from Jack.
Kerry abruptly got to her feet and strode over to the window overlooking the 'gate room. She studied the 'gate for a while, oblivious to Jonas who had moved to stand beside her. Eventually she turned away, leaning with her back against the window, still deep in thought before she began muttering to herself. 'It doesn't quite fit,' she was saying. 'It's pretty close though.' Abruptly turning to Jonas she fired out a question.
'Those symbols? The ones on the Stargate? You have to have six of those in order to dial somewhere don't you?'
'Well you actually need to dial seven symbols, but the seventh is always the point of origin. The first six symbols do provide the destination,' Sam answered. Kerry turned to her.
'They're constellations aren't they?'
Sam nodded, deciding to allow Kerry's thoughts to continue as it looked as though she were going somewhere with this, throwing a warning glance at Jack who was about to demand an explanation.
'Sar'ash had a tablet with six symbols engraved on it, but they didn't look like that, they looked almost Egyptian but not quite the same.' Kerry carried on speaking, her face bearing a far away expression. 'I went to his rooms once to take him some refreshments and he was talking to his guards, he was saying something about Anubis having personally selected him to prepare the assault on the tower 'gate from the outside while Anubis used his new weapon to attack through the gate itself. He said the symbols on his tablet were the planet from which Anubis would begin his attack.' Kerry stopped speaking and looked at the faces watching her, becoming aware once more of where she was.
'The Tau'ri are what the goa'uld call people from earth,' Jonas said, picking up Kerry's misuse of the word.
'Any idea what this weapon is supposed to do?' Jack asked.
'They said something about deactivating the tower's 'gate defences,' Kerry looked doubtfully around her, not sure if what she said had made any sense.
'He's got something that can get through the iris,' Sam said, 'Or stop the iris from closing - it seemed like it was being over-ridden yesterday. Can you remember the symbols?'
Kerry nodded, allowing Jonas to show her back to her seat and began scribbling on the paper put in front of her, pushing it towards Sam when she was done.
Sam studied the paper for a moment, then turned to Jonas. 'I'm going to need your help Jonas. I can't make out what these symbols are.'
'Let me see.' Jonas took the paper and studied it before continuing. 'I'll need to cross-reference with some of Dr Jackson's notes, but I don't think it'll take too long.'
'Very well,' General Hammond spoke up now. 'Let us know as soon as you've got anything. Dismissed.' Sam and Jack stood as Hammond left the room leaving SG1and Kerry alone. Jonas moved to leave, the paper in his hand.
'I think I may be able to help,' Kerry said quietly, standing up.
'Colonel?' Jonas asked Jack for permission, who considered the request for a moment before nodding.
