Chapter 7
"This isn't working," Daniel announced with a sigh, slamming the book he was leafing through. "Even if we could find a plant that induces visions, it wouldn't stay in her system for two weeks... The visions would be getting better by now."
"And instead they're getting worse," Jonas sighed, nodding and closing his own book. "Nanites?" he suggested.
Daniel shook his head. "No, Janet automatically checks for those since Jack got infected."
"So what does that leave?" Jonas asked, as much of himself as of Daniel.
"I don't know, but I think it's time to bring this to Janet."
"Like she doesn't have her hands full enough already," Jonas said, shaking his head and rising. "I can go talk to Janet if you want to keep looking here," he offered.
"Thanks. I still have a few more myths I want to go through."
Jonas nodded and headed for the infirmary. Janet was checking Crawford's vitals when he entered.
"How is he?"
"He might actually make it," she answered, double-checking his IV before turning to face Jonas. "But I don't think he's ever going to walk again," she added, sighing softly.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "What about the others?"
"Pulling through. Crawford's the only one who still may not recover. A lot of the others might never serve again, but they'll all live." She shook her head, rubbing her neck. God, what a nightmare... And the timing could not possibly have been worse given Sam's problems.
"When's the last time you ate?" Jonas asked abruptly.
"I, uh..." Janet tried to think, gave up, and just shook her head.
"Come on," Jonas said, taking her arm. "Let's go get something to eat."
"Why do I get the feeling that this isn't social?"
"Probably because it's not," Jonas sighed. "Seriously, though, Janet, we need to get you out of this place for a little while. The smell alone--"
"Smell?" Janet repeated blankly.
Jonas shook his head. The infirmary reeked of burnt flesh and antiseptic and she did not even notice it any more. Definitely time for some fresh air. Or, as fresh as the air came several hundred feet underground.
"Come on, Janet..."
***
"Well, off the top of my head, I can think of a dozen drugs that cause hallucinations, but visions?" Janet asked, shaking her head and picking at her slice of pecan pie. "Besides, drugs don't usually stay in the system this long."
"Something else, then? What about... Zartac conditioning? Something like that?"
"Well, we could always get Anise to come test her, but..."
"But you trust her about as much as the Colonel does?" Jonas guessed.
Janet nodded and took a bite of her pie. "Besides, this doesn't even slightly resemble what you see with Zartac conditioning. If that's what it were, she wouldn't be aware that anything was wrong."
"What's that leave?"
"Gene resequencing, maybe, like what Nirrti did to you."
"No growths," he pointed out.
"True," Janet agreed. "But if you consider that Apollo's been associated with prophecy for several thousand years already, he'd have had more time to refine any sort of techniques he may have developed."
Jonas nodded faintly. "That's true."
"A PET scan might be in order," Janet decided, nodding to herself. "Her neurotransmitters are all over the place, probably her brain activity as well. That might be the difference between your case and hers. Different brain activity and chemistry as opposed to actual structural changes."
He nodded faintly. "When are you going to let her go off-world again?"
"Not until the nightmares stop at the very least. Those alone make her a danger to herself and her teammates."
"She wants to go back to Delphi."
Janet stared at him with wide eyes. "That's insane!" she protested.
"They promised to help those people," Jonas replied, shrugging. "Sam's a woman of her word."
"You can't actually agree with her?" Janet asked, shaking her head. "Jonas, Apollo wants to make her his Queen! You honestly think the General is ever going to let her go back there?"
"Those people need help. Sam told me what it was like in the prison-camp."
She shook her head. "We don't have the people right now, Jonas. You know that as well as I do."
"You have SG-1."
"Sam can not go back to that planet," she said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry."
"So what happens to those people?" he asked.
She shook her head faintly. "I... I'm sorry, Jonas. There's just too much else going on now. Even if I could clear Sam for off-world activities, she can't be allowed to go back to Delphi."
Jonas sighed softly but nodded. As much as he hated to admit it, Janet was right.
***
"Mister Quinn has offered to join SG-1 until Major Carter is cleared for active duty again," Hammond told Jack. Sighing, he added, "But we're still several teams short of a full compliment."
"And most of them needed elsewhere," Jack agreed, sighing and nodding. Between Anubis' rise to power, Sam's condition, and the recent disaster, things were very rapidly going to hell in a hand basket. "But I still want to go back to Delphi, sir. Carter's right. We made a promise. Those people saved our lives. Sam would be a host by now if it weren't for them."
Hammond sighed and nodded faintly, rubbing his forehead. "You have a go."
"Thank you, sir." Jack nodded. "I appreciate it."
"Just don't make me regret it," Hammond suggested. "I can't afford to lose any more personnel."
"Gee, sir, I didn't know you cared."
Hammond rolled his eyes faintly. "Good luck, Colonel."
"Thank you, sir. Something tells me we're going to need it."
"Sir!" Sam called, running up to Jack as he left the office.
"He said yes."
"That's great."
"You're still grounded."
"But," she protested.
"Ah!" he interrupted, raising one finger. "No buts, Carter. Jonas is filling in for you. And the General wants to see you after Janet's done with her latest round of tests."
Sam sighed and nodded, conceding defeat. "Good luck, sir."
"Thanks. Have fun with your tests."
She snorted softly, shaking her head.
***
"Okay, now, just relax," Janet advised as the neurologists finished wiring Sam for the PET scan.
"Right," Sam agreed, nodding.
"You need to hold your head still," one of the neurologists informed her.
Hold her head still.
Sam shivered, recognizing the voice. Cybil.
"Sam?" Janet asked, frowning.
"Nothing, nothing. Just... thinking about Delphi."
"Well, I'm sure you'll be the first one to know when they get back," Janet assured her.
"Yeah," Sam agreed quietly. "Let's get this over with."
"Just relax and don't fight it," Janet suggested.
She's fighting it...
Let her. It won't help.
"Whoa," the imaging technician muttered. "We just got a huge spike in frontal-lobe activity."
"Sam, what were you just thinking about?" Janet asked quietly.
"I told you, Delphi."
"Memories or..."
"I don't know," Sam muttered, frustrated.
"Okay, let's try to focus on the thoughts, whatever they are. See if you can get more."
"Right," she whispered, closing her eyes.
She's fighting it...
Why do you fight this honor?
"Damn, no!" Sam half-shouted, her hands shooting up to wrap protectively around the back of her neck. She could feel the damned thing trying to burrow its way in. "No, no, no!" she protested.
Janet stared at her, wide-eyed for a moment before reacting. "Sam, relax. You're here, safe."
"You really think so?" Sam scoffed, shaking her head and tugging at the electrodes attached to her temples. "Damn it, Janet, she's calling to me! She wants me back!"
"Well, she's not going to get you back," Janet pointed out firmly, catching Sam's wrists in her hands. "We won't let that happen."
"What makes you think you have a choice?" Sam asked bitterly, biting back tears.
"What the hell's wrong with her?" the technician asked. "Her brain activity's all over the map. She shouldn't even be conscious with some of these levels."
"What's wrong with her is classified," Janet informed him, never taking her eyes from Sam. "Just relax," she suggested.
"But it hurts," Sam protested quietly. "Get it out! Get out of me! Get out, damn it!"
"You," Janet said, pointing to an orderly. "Xanax, two mils. Go. Sam, look at me!" she ordered. "Look at me!"
Shaking, Sam did as directed.
"You are in a military hospital in Colorado Springs," Janet told her firmly. "Your last CT scan indicated no foreign presence. You're alone in there."
"I don't feel alone," Sam whispered, staring desperately up at her. "You have to help me, Janet. Make this stop..."
"I'll do my best," she promised, nodding and accepting a full syringe from the orderly. "This will help you relax," she promised. "And in the meantime, just remember that we're here to help you."
"Not that much," she murmured, shaking her head. "It'll make me tired."
"Sam, you have to rest," Janet reminded her calmly. "Remember, we discussed this. I want to get some scans of your brain-activity while you're sleeping, too."
She nodded weakly in response, rolling up her sleeve and offering her arm. "Let's get this over with."
***
"I've never seen anything like it," the neurologist told Janet. "Her brain activity is... it's everywhere."
"But it's not consistent with a mental disorder?"
He shook his head. "No, not even slightly. You do see abnormal brain activity and brain chemistry with some mental disorders, but not in these patterns. The closest comparison I could draw would be some kind of psychotropic drug. Maybe a hallucinogen."
Janet nodded faintly.
"How long has she been like this?"
"A few weeks now."
"And you're positive that there's no way she could be getting any drugs?"
"Yeah." Janet sighed softly, accepting the neurologist's report. "Thank you."
"Good luck."
"Thank you. I'll need it." Shaking her head, Janet
went to join Sam.
"Well?"
"We're still a little in the dark," Janet admitted, sitting down across from Sam. "You didn't fight as much this time," she noted.
"Well, I couldn't. I was strapped down," Sam explained, shrugging.
Janet blinked. Sam had spoken as though the fact should have been obvious. It was obvious that the line between vision and reality was thinning, and that was not promising.
"Sam, how are you feeling?" she asked.
Sam shrugged faintly, rubbing her forehead. "Little groggy from the drugs."
"You don't look good," Janet said, leaning forward and touching Sam's cheek. "And you're running a fever," she announced, frowning.
"It's probably just that virus that's been going around the SGC."
"Virus," Janet repeated quietly, shaking her head. "How did I miss that?" she demanded of no one in particular, jumping to her feet.
"Uh, Janet?" Sam asked, rising and following the doctor as she scuttled from the room. "Where are we going?"
"Phlebotomy."
Sam groaned softly, shaking her head. "Why?"
Janet spun to face her. "It could be a retrovirus doing this to you. That would be great!"
"It would?" Sam asked, eyeing her uncertainly.
"Well, sure! We get you on a course of antivirals..."
Sam's eyes widened. "And this stops happening to me."
"Exactly! Come on."
Sam nodded and followed Janet through the hall at a half-run.
***
"So we started her on the antivirals this morning at the hospital and we're working on cracking the virus' code," Janet reported to Hammond.
He nodded, scanning her hastily thrown-together report. She had written it out longhand on the drive back to the facility and her handwriting made it clear that the ride had been a bumpy one. "Will this cure her or only prevent her from getting worse?"
"That's unclear at this stage," Janet admitted. "Which is part of the reason why we're working so hard on analyzing the retrovirus. The truth is that, even with it out of her system, she might still get visions. Her brain chemistry has been very seriously altered. According to the neurologist, her waking brain activity looks more like REM sleep than anything. And when she does go to sleep, her brain starts working on a completely different level. He's going to need to review the results before he can be more specific."
"So worst case is that she continues getting visions, but she doesn't deteriorate any more?"
"Yeah." Janet nodded faintly. "And Jonas is proof positive that a person can learn to live with visions."
He nodded. "When can we expect to see her fit for active duty again?"
"It's hard to say," Janet said, shrugging. "First we have to find an antiviral that works on this particular bug. After that, a lot is going to depend on whether Sam begins to recover or not."
"Okay." He nodded and closed the report, handing it back to her. "Get this typed, will you? My old eyes aren't as good as they used to be."
Janet accepted the report with a grin. "Sorry, sir. I'll have a more comprehensive... and legible report for you by morning."
"Well done, Doctor," he told her, rising. "It was a good catch."
"Thank you, sir." She looked up as the warning claxons started going off.
"Unscheduled off-world activation!"
"Better get down to the Gate-room," Hammond suggested with a sigh. "You might be needed."
Janet sighed and nodded, heading that way as Hammond started for the observation deck.
"Janet! Is it them?" Sam asked, jogging to join her.
"I don't know."
Sam nodded and patted her arm before jogging off.
"It's SG1, sir," Sergeant Davis reported. "They're taking heavy fire."
Hammond sighed softly, nodding. "Open the iris." He looked up, nodding towards Sam. "Major."
"Sir."
"Janet just brought me up to date," he told her.
He opened his mouth to continue, but stopped as people started pouring into the Gate-room through the wormhole. There were dozens of them, at least fifty so far, all emaciated and filthy, some wearing little more than rags. They huddled on the ramp, some physically carrying others, all looking around with blatant fear and uncertainty. The last stream of people through the wormhole were all armed, mostly with staff-weapons, and were running backwards or firing over their shoulders. He held his breath until four familiar figures brought up the rear. Next to him, Sam heaved a sigh of relief, then turned and hurried into the Gate-room.
A familiar girl carrying a staff-weapon started for her the moment she saw her, letting out a startled yelp as several soldiers leveled guns at her.
"It's okay. Stand down," Sam ordered. "Calpurnia," she greeted the girl.
"I knew you would come back," she said quietly. "The others doubted, but I had faith in you and your friends. The Tau'ri are a noble race indeed." She extended the staff-weapon to Sam. "We are grateful."
"We had a deal," Sam pointed out, accepting it from her.
The others started quickly laying down their own weapons as well, noticing that the weapons leveled at Calpurnia were immediately lowered when she relinquished hers.
"God, I've missed that!" Jonas announced, exhaling deeply and smiling.
"You miss running fire-fights, do you?" Daniel asked, staring at Jonas and scratching the back of his neck. "I see..."
"Trust me, that was a lot less scary than an average Council-meeting," Jonas assured him cheerfully.
"I'm sure it was, judging from some of the reports I've been reading," Hammond said, walking into the Gate-room. "Doctor, if you'll start processing these good folks, I'll see if we can't find some decent clothes and accommodations for them."
"Yes, sir," Janet said, turning to start directing her medical teams.
"The rest of you, debriefing in one hour. Dismissed."
"What happened?" Sam asked Jonas. The Colonel and the others were busily assisting the medical teams in the task of triaging and assessing the refuges.
"It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, Sam," Jonas told her honestly. "The minute we showed up, these people, almost to the man, start attacking the guards. Some of them were so weak that they couldn't walk, so the others carried them from their cells. And then Calpurnia grabs a staff-weapon from one of the Jaffa and raids the armory with two or three others." He shook his head. "You don't see cooperation like that on my planet."
Sam glanced at the very substantial pile of staff-weapons on the ramp and nodded faintly. "Have those brought to the armory," she directed one of the soldiers.
"So, any luck on your end?" Jonas asked.
"Yeah, actually. Janet thinks she's cracked it."
He grinned widely. "That's great!" His smile faded slightly, replaced by a weary expression. "I guess that means I get to go home."
"Well, I'm not clear for active duty yet," Sam pointed out. "You stay as long as you want."
"Sam, I could kiss you right now," he informed her gravely.
"Just don't let the Colonel see," she laughed, shaking her head as she and Jonas moved to help the others.