Chapter 5: We wait for our guest to wake up
"Colonel, you left less than an hour ago," General Hammond said as his second in command reported to him, looking the worse for wear. "Was there some kind of problem?"
"Well, you could say that, sir," he said. "We seem to have walked in on someone else's war. The Goa'uld were attacking some people there. We brought one of them back with us."
"Any particular reason?"
"Well, she did take out a deathglider that tried to kill us, and Daniel told us she took out six Jaffa before that."
"Six at once?"
"Apparently. She was also using some kind of energy weapon we've never seen before. We think the others are all dead."
"I'd like to see this guest of ours."
"She's in the infirmary. She was hurt pretty bad. Daniel's there, too. He took a rock splinter through the thigh."
"I'd still like to see her." They headed down to the infirmary.
"Ah, good, just in time for your check-up," a nurse who was far too perky greeted him. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"
Inside the operating theatre, Doctor Fraiser and her best staff were hard at work trying to save a life.
"Well, Doctor, what's your report?" General Hammond asked. SG-1 were seated around the briefing table, with Daniel's crutches perched awkwardly against it. "Is she human?"
"Yes, sir," the doctor said solemnly. "No sign of Goa'uld infestation, and no naquada in her blood. There are minor differences, but that's all."
"Minor differences?"
"High concentration of bone minerals, high iron count. I'd guess she's from a planet with higher gravity and lower oxygen levels. Slightly enlarged heart and lungs, and her internal organs are arranged a little differently. I'm still waiting for genetic analyses, but she's as human as we are. I can also confirm she comes from a high-tech culture."
"How, Doctor?"
"She's had her appendix out, one of her teeth has a filling and two others have been completely replaced, my guess is after a fight. She's well-nourished and basically healthy. She also has an implant at the back of the brain stem, but I don't know what it does. It's not tied into her nervous system, and it doesn't look like a cybernetic implant. It's inactive at the moment. We're watching it."
"An implant. A large one?"
"No, quite small. I've given the X-rays to some of the technicians to try to figure it out, but I don't want to remove it without finding what it does."
"Very well. Can you tell us anything about her personally?"
"Two things. One is that she's been in a lot of fights. There are signs of where broken bones have healed and an extensive collection of scars, most of them less than five years old. The other thing is that she's young. Medically, I'd put her age at sixteen to twenty."
"Based on what?"
"Her teeth. I did some dental X-rays. Her wisdom teeth haven't come up yet."
"She's just a kid," O'Neill said. "How badly was she injured?"
"Staff blasts to the right arm and spine, both some time before you brought her in; my guess is she sustained them running away. Seven broken ribs and all the rest are fractured, broken collarbone, compound fracture of the right femur, and her left elbow and knee-cap are shattered. Possible concussion. Fortunately she didn't sustain any spinal damage, but the staff blast cauterised half her liver and one kidney. I don't know if she'll make it, and even if she does, she may be crippled. She must have been in agony after that blast to the back."
Looks were swapped. "She was running like crazy," Daniel said slowly. "And she could have gone faster if she'd left me behind."
"Huh?"
"She dragged me along. I was running as fast as I could, but she was faster."
"Did she say why they were fighting the Goa'uld?" Hammond asked.
"No. I'm going to have to learn her language before I can ask. She didn't understand anything I said."
"Did you try another language?"
"I tried all of them. She tried twelve of her own. We don't have any languages in common."
Looks were exchanged. "And her gear?"
"Some kind of hand-held energy weapon," Sam said. "I tried it out, but it didn't fire. I was going to wait until she wakes up before I start fiddling with the switches to find which one is the safety. Clothing, a knife, a few things like a roll of bandages and some food. She also had a computer in a bag, and these," she spread out thin metallic cards. "I think they're some form of disk storage. I've never seen anything like it."
"What's on the disks?"
"I don't know. I can't get the computer to start up. I think it needs a password."
"It's also in no language I recognise," Daniel added. "There are superficial similarities to a number of scripts, but nothing good enough to translate. I'm checking my references."
"So long as you do it sitting down," Doctor Fraiser said. That seemed to be the general consensus; wait and see.
"What about returning to P4C-992?" Colonel O'Neill asked.
"We sent a team through. The Goa'uld were advancing on the temple and trying to scale the walls. SG-11 returned. Hopefully the Goa'uld won't know we have run into a potential ally."
"Good thinking," O'Neill said to his superior. "General, I don't think those people came from that planet. There was no sign of recent habitation."
"I agree," Daniel said. "Maybe they were exploring, too."
"If that's the case, where did they come from?"
"Possibly the answer is on that computer," Sam said.
"Do your best, Major. I guess we wait for our guest to wake up."
"Colonel, you left less than an hour ago," General Hammond said as his second in command reported to him, looking the worse for wear. "Was there some kind of problem?"
"Well, you could say that, sir," he said. "We seem to have walked in on someone else's war. The Goa'uld were attacking some people there. We brought one of them back with us."
"Any particular reason?"
"Well, she did take out a deathglider that tried to kill us, and Daniel told us she took out six Jaffa before that."
"Six at once?"
"Apparently. She was also using some kind of energy weapon we've never seen before. We think the others are all dead."
"I'd like to see this guest of ours."
"She's in the infirmary. She was hurt pretty bad. Daniel's there, too. He took a rock splinter through the thigh."
"I'd still like to see her." They headed down to the infirmary.
"Ah, good, just in time for your check-up," a nurse who was far too perky greeted him. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"
Inside the operating theatre, Doctor Fraiser and her best staff were hard at work trying to save a life.
"Well, Doctor, what's your report?" General Hammond asked. SG-1 were seated around the briefing table, with Daniel's crutches perched awkwardly against it. "Is she human?"
"Yes, sir," the doctor said solemnly. "No sign of Goa'uld infestation, and no naquada in her blood. There are minor differences, but that's all."
"Minor differences?"
"High concentration of bone minerals, high iron count. I'd guess she's from a planet with higher gravity and lower oxygen levels. Slightly enlarged heart and lungs, and her internal organs are arranged a little differently. I'm still waiting for genetic analyses, but she's as human as we are. I can also confirm she comes from a high-tech culture."
"How, Doctor?"
"She's had her appendix out, one of her teeth has a filling and two others have been completely replaced, my guess is after a fight. She's well-nourished and basically healthy. She also has an implant at the back of the brain stem, but I don't know what it does. It's not tied into her nervous system, and it doesn't look like a cybernetic implant. It's inactive at the moment. We're watching it."
"An implant. A large one?"
"No, quite small. I've given the X-rays to some of the technicians to try to figure it out, but I don't want to remove it without finding what it does."
"Very well. Can you tell us anything about her personally?"
"Two things. One is that she's been in a lot of fights. There are signs of where broken bones have healed and an extensive collection of scars, most of them less than five years old. The other thing is that she's young. Medically, I'd put her age at sixteen to twenty."
"Based on what?"
"Her teeth. I did some dental X-rays. Her wisdom teeth haven't come up yet."
"She's just a kid," O'Neill said. "How badly was she injured?"
"Staff blasts to the right arm and spine, both some time before you brought her in; my guess is she sustained them running away. Seven broken ribs and all the rest are fractured, broken collarbone, compound fracture of the right femur, and her left elbow and knee-cap are shattered. Possible concussion. Fortunately she didn't sustain any spinal damage, but the staff blast cauterised half her liver and one kidney. I don't know if she'll make it, and even if she does, she may be crippled. She must have been in agony after that blast to the back."
Looks were swapped. "She was running like crazy," Daniel said slowly. "And she could have gone faster if she'd left me behind."
"Huh?"
"She dragged me along. I was running as fast as I could, but she was faster."
"Did she say why they were fighting the Goa'uld?" Hammond asked.
"No. I'm going to have to learn her language before I can ask. She didn't understand anything I said."
"Did you try another language?"
"I tried all of them. She tried twelve of her own. We don't have any languages in common."
Looks were exchanged. "And her gear?"
"Some kind of hand-held energy weapon," Sam said. "I tried it out, but it didn't fire. I was going to wait until she wakes up before I start fiddling with the switches to find which one is the safety. Clothing, a knife, a few things like a roll of bandages and some food. She also had a computer in a bag, and these," she spread out thin metallic cards. "I think they're some form of disk storage. I've never seen anything like it."
"What's on the disks?"
"I don't know. I can't get the computer to start up. I think it needs a password."
"It's also in no language I recognise," Daniel added. "There are superficial similarities to a number of scripts, but nothing good enough to translate. I'm checking my references."
"So long as you do it sitting down," Doctor Fraiser said. That seemed to be the general consensus; wait and see.
"What about returning to P4C-992?" Colonel O'Neill asked.
"We sent a team through. The Goa'uld were advancing on the temple and trying to scale the walls. SG-11 returned. Hopefully the Goa'uld won't know we have run into a potential ally."
"Good thinking," O'Neill said to his superior. "General, I don't think those people came from that planet. There was no sign of recent habitation."
"I agree," Daniel said. "Maybe they were exploring, too."
"If that's the case, where did they come from?"
"Possibly the answer is on that computer," Sam said.
"Do your best, Major. I guess we wait for our guest to wake up."