DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Manifestations

Part eight

'What the..?' Jack left the question hanging as he realised where he was now standing.

'Jack - what just happened?' Daniel looked around, a bemused expression on his face.

'Good question. General?' Jack shot a puzzled look up to the control room.

'I have no idea, Jack. Come straight to the briefing room.'

'We walked through the 'gate, and found ourselves walking back down the ramp, sir.' Jack gave his account of events. 'As far as I'm aware, we didn't even arrive on the planet.'

'That pretty much matches up with what happened at this end. The 'gate didn't shut down or redial, you just came walking back out again as soon as you left.'

'I guess the Nox really don't want to see us then,' Jack pulled a face as he spoke. 'What now?'

'Why not wait and see?' Daniel suggested, hurrying on when he saw curious faces directed at him. 'Last time we tried, we couldn't even get a lock on the Nox planet, someone must have been there to send us back again.'

'Have you considered the fact that they may be expecting someone else?' Jack reminded Daniel, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

'Either way, Jack,' Daniel remained patient in spite of Jack's aggravatingly negative manner, 'we've still got time left before we have to make a decision, if nothing comes of this, there's always Tuplo and the Land of Light.'

'Daniel Jackson's assessment of the current situation appears to have merit,' Teal'c gave the plan his seal of approval in a rather roundabout way. 'The Nox have demonstrated themselves to prefer peaceful methods although they possess great power. It is probable that they are aware we have been trying to contact them.'

'That doesn't mean they want anything to do with us,' Jack still argued. 'They don't seem particularly interested in anyone else as long as they don't interfere with their own ways.'

'They helped the Tollan,' Daniel reminded Jack.

'Only because the Tollan were able to communicate with them using their 'superior' technology.' Daniel could almost see the quotation marks around Jack's use of the word 'superior'. It still grated on all of them that races such as the Tok'ra or Tollan saw them as inferior rather than less advanced.

'Gentlemen,' Hammond spoke the word quietly, but instantly the room fell silent. 'We need to give the Nox time to respond. If we hear nothing, Alysha will go to the Land of Light in twenty-four hours. Dismissed.'

XOXOXOX

'Thanks Alysha, you've done really well this morning. Did you want to go get some lunch with Cassie - I'm sure you've still got lots of catching up to do,' Janet smiled at Alysha who was starting to show signs of becoming restless. She had patiently undergone a number of tests and simulations but it was clear she had had enough for the moment. 'Sergeant?' Janet turned to Sandra who had remained with Alysha throughout the morning. 'Cassie's in my office playing on the computer, could you take the girls to the mess hall please.'

'Yes ma'am,' Sandra responded smartly, standing up straight, still not entirely at ease in her new posting.

'Relax, Sandra,' Janet smiled warmly at the other woman. 'You'll find that we're a pretty easy going command for the most part, as long as you're ready to tackle anything that crops up.' Sandra returned the smile and led Alysha away towards Dr Fraiser's office.

Janet stood staring into space for a few moments before she gathered up the pile of test results, a considerable quantity for the short time they had available, and made her way to Sam's lab.

'Knock knock!' Janet called as she entered the open door. Sam looked up and smiled, stretching as she did so as she realised she'd been sitting hunched over the bench for several hours now without moving.

'Hey.' Sam greeted her.

'Please don't tell me you've been working without a break since you left me,' Janet smiled wryly as she knew what the answer was going to be, not giving Sam chance to respond. 'I've got the results from the physical exams, and they certainly make for some interesting reading. There was a huge increase in brain wave activity after each of the tasks you set her, she's using parts of the brain which are normally redundant in most humans.'

'Tell me about it,' Sam nodded in agreement. 'I've been going over the results and video tapes of the exercises she went through, it's amazing, no wonder the NID are so interested. I guess we'd better go and update General Hammond then.'

'Are you sure these results are correct?' Hammond asked, unable to quite believe what the two officers were telling him. 'To exhibit one or two of these behaviours I could well believe, but I just can't believe that a child possesses so much mental ability.' Hammond scanned through the report once again to confirm what he was reading.

'Don't forget that Alysha isn't human in the same way we are, and Nirrti has had a lot of time to perfect some of her techniques,' Sam reminded Hammond. 'It certainly explains why the zats the NID tried to use on us didn't work when we were bringing Alysha here. She seems to have a lot of ability, but at the moment it is unpredictable and she finds it hard to control it. When she's threatened she just lashes out without even knowing what she's doing. Don't get me wrong sir, there is certainly an element of self-control there, but when she's threatened her ability increases exponentially. I'd hate to get on the wrong side of her.'

'Of whom, Carter?' Jack had entered the briefing room as Sam finished speaking. Hammond nodded a greeting at the Colonel who proceeded to take a seat.

'Alysha.'

'You're kidding right?' Jack asked, unable to believe that the child could possibly possess enough power to put the frighteners on his second-in-command.

'I'm afraid not, sir,' Sam confirmed.

'I though we were just talking about a bit of telekinesis and telepathy,' Jack protested.

'Those were our initial thoughts, but even in the short time we've had this morning, we now realise that Alysha has the ability to go beyond anything we could ever think humanly possible,' Janet jumped in, backing up Sam's observations. 'Alysha hasn't even begun to fully explore what she is capable of, and she could end up being a danger to herself and others if her ability isn't channelled in the right way, and quite frankly, sir, I don't think we can even begin to help her. In a couple of years she'll be out of control.'

'Why in a couple of years?' Jack asked curiously. 'I mean, she's got this now, why isn't she a danger now?'

'When she reaches puberty with her hormones all over the place, she'll lose what little control she has over it,' Janet explained. 'Imagine what a normal teenager is like and multiply that a hundred or thousand-fold.'

'What exactly has she done this morning anyway?' Jack changed the angle of attack, curious as to what had got the two scientists so uptight.

'Apart from moving and repelling objects, she's been able to interfere with electrical equipment - light bulbs and fuses blowing, machinery switching on and off and she knows when someone is about to come into the room, she can sense their presence outside the room and can also tell us why they're there.'

'Cool,' Jack replied.

'Colonel I don't think you fully understand the implications…' Janet began but was cut off mid-sentence as a panicked voice spoke over the intercom.

'Back up units to the 'gate room immediately, General Hammond to the control room.' This was accompanied by the sound of a wormhole establishing below in the 'gate room

'Report!' Hammond barked while he was still half way down the stairs, the others hot on his heels watching as the 'gate room filled with security personnel on full alert as they realised the iris hadn't closed and there was no indication of any GDO code coming through.

'The 'gate activated without warning, sir and the iris won't close.' The 'gate technician brought Hammond up to speed without diverting his attention from the console in front of him, his hands flying as he tried to restore control of the iris.

'Stand by in the 'gate room,' Hammond ordered briskly, 'and seal the doors. Let's not take any chances.'

The minutes ticked by and still nothing happened.

'I'm not detecting any unusual readings, sir,' Sam reported. 'Something must be keeping the 'gate open, but there's nothing coming through.' She frowned as she continued her investigations.

At that moment, their attention was diverted by the arrival of Cassie and Alysha accompanied by an apologetic Sergeant Brown.

'I tried to stop her but she won't listen,' Sandra began, falling silent as she watched Alysha approaching the window overlooking the 'gate room and standing on her toes to try to see through.

'What's she doing?' Jack enquired, keeping his voice calm in spite of his obvious irritation.

'I have no idea,' Janet responded as she moved towards the girl. 'Alysha?' Janet touched her lightly on the arm, only to be shrugged off, Alysha's attention remaining on the open 'gate.

Before any more could be said, six armed Jaffa emerged from the 'gate, staff weapons fully charged and taking aim at the guards around the room, the three in front kneeling down to allow those behind clear access to the room as well. Simultaneously, all six staff weapons were fired, each finding it's target, six of the guard dropping to the floor like stones. The weapons were aimed again, but this time only three fired, and the blast from them hit the wall behind their targets. Unperturbed, the Jaffa fired again, or tried to, but found their weapons to be inoperative. Their air of self-confidence starting to wane, the Jaffa reached for their zat guns but found those also to be out of commission, and in a final bid to save themselves and complete their mission, pulled out knives and advanced slowly down the ramp towards the waiting guards.

At the same time, the human security contingent had found their weapons to be equally useless, although fully loaded not one gun would fire and their own zats refused to work. Casting anxious looks at each other, the guards pulled their knives out as well and took up defensive positions to tackle the approaching Jaffa.

Before either group were able to make contact, the faces of the Jaffa turned blank and they crumpled to the floor without warning. Moving cautiously forward, the SGC personnel secured the intruders while Hammond and Jack made their way to the 'gate room to see if there were any indication as to what exactly had happened.

'General, there's someone else coming through,' Sam's voice called out the warning as the event horizon rippled and a figure could be seen emerging.