Take a Chance on Me - Chapter 21

***Author's note - I would hate for anyone to lose sleep over me. Enjoy the story, but be aware that this is *not* the end!

"Report, Trevis." General Hammond requested wearily.

"Sir, P3S-920 is secure; with enough naquada to use, but probably not enough to draw the Goa'uld's attention. There were some ruins, but they had been abandoned for some time. We came back when Sgt. Pratt and Col. Mace were injured."

"If the planet is secure, how did they get injured?"

Trevis rolled his eyes, and then remembered whom it was he was talking to. "Sorry sir. Sgt. Pratt was standing on top of a hill when he tripped over a rock and started to roll down. That's how he broke his leg."

General Hammond groaned. "And, Mace?"

Trevis grinned in spite of himself. "The colonel was at the bottom of the hill packing up one of the tents. Pratt landed on him. Lt. Murrin was worried about his concussion so we left without packing up. With your permission, I'd like to go back and retrieve our gear and samples. It shouldn't take more than an hour."

"Very well, I'll have SG-7 accompany you. Be ready to go in half an hour."

"Yes sir." He gave him a sharp salute and left the office.

General Hammond leaned back in his chair and sighed wearily, rubbing his hands over his eyes. It was the day that wouldn't end.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sam looked up from the microscope in the lab as Janet came into the room. "How's SG-8?"

Janet sat down heavily. "They'll be fine. I thought Daniel was a bit of a klutz, but compared to Pratt, he was downright graceful. This is the 3rd time this month he's been in the infirmary because of an accident. I've checked his eyesight, coordination, and run all sorts of tests to see if there's anything physically wrong with him, but he just seems to not pay attention to where he's going. If he keeps this up, he's going to get kicked off the team."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much. He's bound to snap out of it sooner or later. He wasn't like this before Lt. Murrin joined the team. It's just a case of puppy love."

Janet was surprise at this bit of gossip. "But she's an officer. They wouldn't be allowed to date even if they weren't on the same team."

"Pratt's been taking night classes at the university. He'll be an officer before you know it. *And* he's already put in a request to transfer to the lab as soon as he graduates in December, so fear not, Janet. Only three months of injuries to go."

Janet gave a sigh of exasperation before changing the subject. "So how are we doing?"

"We wait another 15 minutes and you should be ready to test the pheromone blocker." Sam gathered up her belongings. "I need to get to the gate room to supervise the MALP being sent to Cimmeria. Col. O'Neill wanted me to double check that the hammer was still working before he takes Rayne through. You better test that without me anyway. I don't want to set her off."

"Sounds fair. I'll let you know how it goes."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lt. Trevis was waiting impatiently outside the gate room for SG-7 to show up. He hadn't felt so pumped up to go on a mission in a long time and was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet in anticipation. Had he thought about it, he hadn't felt quite so good in a while either. The stiffness that he had felt in his muscles from carrying back his fallen teammates had disappeared. "I wonder if Goa'uld kisses have healing powers." He idly wondered. "It was almost worth it."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The fifteen minutes had past and Janet approached Rayne's bed with the syringe ready to administer the pheromone inhibitor. She had just placed the needle into the IV and was about to inject it when she noticed how pale Rayne looked.

She checked the monitors. Her BP and heart rate had fallen, but were still within acceptable parameters for a Goa'uld. That's when she noticed it; there was a trickle of blood coming from Rayne's mouth and pooling on the pillow. A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sam watched at the gate was being dialed up to send the MALP through. "Chevron three locked. Chevron four encoded. Chevron four locked in place." Glancing at the clock, she wondered if Janet was testing the drug yet.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Janet grabbed her light from her pocket and, prying open Rayne's mouth with her thumb, peered down her throat. Blood was bubbling from the back of her throat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack was walking into the infirmary as Janet yelled to one of her nurses to call security. His face went deathly pale when he noticed her standing next to Rayne's still form, hands covered in blood.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The MALP had just entered the wormhole as Lt. Trevis, Lt. Murrin, and SG-7 walked into the gate room. The alarm sounded, calling security to the infirmary.

Lt. Trevis felt from someplace within him an unknown surge of panic and he ran towards the open wormhole, leaping through it just as it was about to close down.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rayne was unstrapped from the bed and moved onto a gurney to be rushed to the MRI chamber. "It's gone, sir. The Goa'uld is gone." Janet yelled to Jack as she rushed past him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Reintegrating on the other side of the wormhole, Trevis was scanned by the Asgard device, and vanished.