"Pretty big jump," said Jack.
"While the students were passing by," said Teal'c, "Daniel Jackson and I conversed in Goa'uld."
"We got a few strange looks," Daniel added. "But no one showed any signs of knowing what we were talking about."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "What were you talking about?"
"Um..." said Daniel, color coming to his cheeks.
"Tau'ri mating rituals," supplied Teal'c.
Cassandra snorted; Sam shook her head; and General Hammond made a strange, contorted face, as if he was trying very hard not to laugh.
"And if that won't bring a Goa'uld out of hiding," said Jack, "nothing will."
Sam gave a little all-right-back-on-topic cough. "Daniel's right. I got the test results back. None of the students have the protein marker of a Goa'uld host." Cassie breathed a sigh of relief, and Sam held up a hand. "But – six of the students, including Dominic, have naquadah in their blood. The school was kind enough to send over their records." Taking papers off the top of her pile, she passed everyone a copy.
"Any connection between them?" asked Hammond.
"I haven't gone over them thoroughly yet," Sam replied, "but it doesn't look like it. I'll have to dig deeper, see if I can find a link."
Daniel raised his hand. "If our cover story is that they're infected, can't we bring them in for more testing?"
Sam shook her head. "It's risky. They're minors. The parents would have to be involved. Or they could demand that their child be taken to a regular hospital."
"In which case, our cover is blown, I know. But don't you think since we don't know where the naquadah came from, it's worth the risk?"
"Not yet, Doctor," Hammond decided. "For now, we'll just keep an eye on them while Major Carter finds a link."
"I can help," said Cassie, looking over the papers. "I know some of these people."
"Friends of yours?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
Cassie shook her head. "We're not close. But I see them around, you know? A couple of them are friends of Dominic's."
"Well, that's interesting," said Daniel.
"Friends of Dominic." Jack cringed. "And yes, it is."
"Is what?"
"Interesting, Daniel."
"There has to be an explanation," said Sam. "I know we can find it."
"I hope so," said Hammond. "Dismissed."
Daniel knocked on the door of Sam's lab. Sam was bent over a microscope. Cassie was sleeping sitting up with her eyes open in that manner bored-to-death high schoolers had perfected. When she heard him knock, she blinked and straightened up. "Sam."
Sam turned. "Oh, hi, Daniel."
"Been here all night?" he asked.
"Is it morning already?" She glanced at her watch; it was almost eight. "Wow. I didn't realize. Cassie – "
"Don't worry. I've been catnapping."
"Are we getting ready to go back to the school?" asked Sam.
"Actually, that's what I came to tell you," said Daniel. "The principal just called. One of the students passed away last night."
Sam gasped. "How? What happened?"
"Dr. Brightman's doing an autopsy right now. The cover story of the disease let us get the body," he explained.
A blessing and a curse. Sam didn't envy the person who had to explain the death to the student's family. She followed Daniel to the infirmary, Cassie trailing behind. Sam could see the question forming behind her eyes, being pulled back and finally forcing its way out of her mouth.
"Who was it?" Cassie asked.
"Johanna Bauer," said Daniel. "We never got a blood sample from her. She's the one who was afraid of needles."
"Afraid of needles?" Cassie repeated.
Sam had seen the brief flicker of recognition on Cassie's face. "You know her?"
Cassie shook her head. Too quickly, Sam thought. "No."
'Are you sure?' had almost breached her lips when she stopped. She knew what Daniel would say. The same thing everyone else had been saying: Give her time. She'll talk when she's ready.
If she forced the issue, she would risk pushing Cassie further away. Still, just how much time was she supposed to give?
"I've never seen anything like this," said Dr. Brightman.
Yeah, thought Jack, she's new here. Too new. It felt like Janet had barely been gone when the Air Force shipped in a replacement. Thankfully, his relationship with the doctor was purely professional – he didn't think he could take it if she started trying to replace Janet as a friend.
"What is it?" he asked finally, bracing himself for some long, detailed explanation filled with medical terms that would go in one ear and out the other. He grimaced inwardly. Why even ask?
"Did we miss anything?" asked Daniel as he came in the door, followed closely by Sam, Cassie, and Teal'c. From their faces, he could tell that Daniel hadn't had his coffee yet, Sam and Cassie had been up all night, and Teal'c had been interrupted in the middle of his meditation. His eyebrow said, 'This had better be good.'
"Not much," said Jack. "She's never seen anything like it."
"Like what?" asked Sam.
"The symptoms are consistent with a drug overdose," said Brightman. "Except for the fact that there aren't enough drugs in her system to cause an overdose."
"What is there?"
"Diphenhydramine. Sleeping pills," she explained. "And an extremely low level of naquadah."