Author's Note: Slight spoiler in this chapter for Message in a Bottle.

Chapter two

Shocking Discovery

"What does it do?" Sergeant Siler was standing next to Daniel Jackson, peering owlishly through his thick lenses at the black ball.

Daniel pulled his eyes off the screen he was studying, "I don't know...yet."

"Looks like a tennis ball."

"So I've heard." Daniel adjusted his body in his chair, grimacing as the papers on his lap dropped to the floor and scattered, "Don't you have something to do?"

Siler straightened from his position hunched over the ball, "Oh...yeah. Didn't you call in a power problem?"

Daniel frowned, pausing while picking up his papers, "I think I did. Hang on..." Daniel tried to remember. It had been twelve hours since SG-1 had gated back with their ball. He had been working on the translations since, getting by with coffee and the occasional doughnut snatched from the commissary. He finished gathering the files, "I remember. That lamp over there...it keeps flickering. It's annoying."

Siler grunted, and carried his tools over to the desk where the lamp hung. He started digging through his items.

Daniel flinched with every loud bang of metal on metal, then a few moments of quiet would tick by, disturbed again by loud clinks and clanks.

"Could you possibly be any louder?" He asked, twisting his head to glare at Siler.

Siler shrugged, "Sorry Dr. Jackson. I'll be done in a few minutes."

"Figured it out?" Jack had arrived at Daniel's office and now leaned casually against the doorjamb.

"Maybe I could if everyone would stop interrupting me."

"I think someone needs to quit spending the night staring at little black balls."

Daniel was going to reply, something scathing and hopefully rude, but the thought occurred to him that Jack was probably right. It didn't make him happier. "I'm going to get some breakfast." He stood up, grabbed his outer shirt off the back of his chair, "Want to come?"

Jack was about to reply when Siler's voice interrupted, "That's okay Dr. Jackson, I've got to finish up here and then head over to the gateroom. Something about a light malfunctioning..."

Jack closed his half-open mouth, and he and Daniel shared a bemused smile.

"Uh, maybe next time Siler." Daniel replied, and mouthed, I hope not, in Jack's direction. The only answer was another loud clank.
"It might as well be a tennis ball. I've managed to isolate a few characters but I don't think I'm going to get much else. At least not anytime soon." Daniel lifted a forkful of waffles.

"To bad the Colonel doesn't speak Ancient anymore." Carter said, spooning yogurt.

"The Colonel doesn't agree." Jack sighed, pushing his bowl of cereal away. Fruit loops didn't seem appealing after all.

Daniel looked at Jack's bowl of fruit loops then back up at Jack, "As much as I'd love to know what it says, I have to agree with Jack."

Carter leaned forward on her elbows after setting aside the yogurt; "You have to admit, it would've been helpful if the Asgard could have taken the rest but left his language capabilities."

"I do not think that would have been wise Major Carter." Teal'c intoned.

"Come on! We could've had our own Ancient interpreter." Carter persisted.

Jack snorted, "One language geek is enough for SG-1."

"If I wasn't so tired, I'd take offense to that." Daniel sipped his coffee.

"In your case Daniel, geek is a term of affection." Jack poured his own cup of coffee. "I guess I should finish up those reports." He didn't make any attempt at moving.

"O'Neill, do you not need to return to your office to accomplish such a task?"

"Your point?"

Teal'c offered a hint of a smile and remained quiet.

"All right. I'm going. But don't blame me if you all get bored when I'm gone." Jack warned, pushing back his chair and standing.

"Perish the thought." Daniel took another bite of waffles. "Have fun." He mumbled with a mouthful of food.

"Yeah. Right." Jack left the commissary, intending to head to his office to actually work on those reports, but instead found himself moving in the direction of Daniel's office. The black ball had been intriguing. Having had the knowledge previously, he was oddly drawn to the object, but hadn't admitted it earlier. He'd just take a quick look and then get to those reports.

He leaned in the room, no Siler. He saw the ball resting on a foam pad on Daniel's counter. It really did look like a black tennis ball minus the fuzz. And of course all that writing scratched on it.

He lifted it, and rotated it in his palm. It was smooth as a stone rubbed soft by the endless strength of a river. He traced the etching with his thumb, following the pattern. There was a bright flash, and Jack O'Neill slumped to the ground.
"He's coming round." A voice spoke above him, filtering into his muddled thoughts. Jack lifted an arm and draped it over his eyes, attempting to block the light.

"Colonel...do you know where you are?"

He recognized that voice. Doctor Fraiser. He groaned. "Infirmary."

"Good. Do you remember what happened?"

Jack cracked his eyes, "No."

Fraiser leaned over O'Neill, assessing his vitals, "Give yourself a moment." She cautioned.

"You were in my office Jack." Daniel was sitting in a hard chair by the head of Jack's bed, "I found you there after breakfast." He didn't mention how scary it was to find your best friend unconscious on the floor of your office.

Jack was rapidly returning to alertness, "I wasn't in your office."

"Yes, you were." Daniel insisted.

"No...I wasn't." Jack countered.

"Were."

"Wasn't."

"Colonel..." Fraiser interrupted the two, "You were in Daniel's office, and I'd like to know what happened."

Jack looked from Fraiser's concerned features to Daniel's, "You tell me."

"You don't remember?" She pressed.

"Apparently not."

"What's the last thing you do remember?" She slid a hand under his upper back, helping him get into a sitting position, as he struggled to do it himself and failed, still weak from whatever had happened.

"Watching Daniel stuff himself with waffles." Jack grimaced. His muscles ached, painfully.

Daniel frowned, "You left. You said you were going to work on reports."

Now it was Jack's turn to frown, "Reports? I never work on reports."

Janet lifted the clipboard from Jack's bed and made a note, "I don't know what happened but you seem fine now."

"I can go?" Jack seemed surprised.

"No...not yet." Janet almost laughed at the look of slight despair, "Just a few more tests and then if they check out you can go...but stay on base. Until I find out what happened I don't want you leaving."

Daniel stood up, stretching, "I'm going to go give Teal'c and Sam an update on you."

"Where are they?"

"Searching my office for clues as to what happened." Daniel stared at his friend, "You really don't remember?"

"Not a thing."

"Take it easy, I'll be back." Daniel headed off in search of the other two members of SG-1.

Jack sighed, and closed his eyes. His body really did ache. Fraiser was watching him, he could feel her eyes taking in every movement of his, and he knew that she knew he was hurting.

"Get some rest Colonel." She said softly. He heard the soft pad of her feet as she headed off to check on other patients. He decided rest was probably a good idea, and soon was fast asleep.
"Do you have any idea what happened to Colonel O'Neill?" General Hammond asked. He was sitting at the briefing table, along with Major Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c and Doctor Fraiser.

"Yes...and no." Janet answered; O'Neill's file open in front of her.

Hammond frowned, "Which is it Doctor?"

"All of the Colonel's tests indicate he suffered some type of electrical shock." She flipped through some pages, "But I don't know how or what did it to him."

"Dr. Jackson, is there anything in your office that could explain this?"

Daniel shook his head, bewildered, "Nothing. He was lying on the floor by my counter when I found him."

"The Ancient device was on the floor beside him Daniel Jackson." Teal'c reminded them.

"Yes, but I picked it up and didn't have anything happen."

"And we all handled it on the planet Teal'c. No one has gotten hurt by it." Carter pointed out.

"Figure it out people." Hammond ordered, standing. "Until then, handle that object with care. I don't want a repeat of the last orb we brought home."

Sober faces looked back at him. No one wanted a repeat of that fiasco, remembering O'Neill harpooned to the gateroom for hours, and the entire base almost self-destructing.

"Dismissed."