Fifteen

/ P3X-796 – INSIDE THE SECTOR POST /

Ssendrriya was in a quandary. In Alert Mode, she was required to answer only to orders given by a Command Officer. The problem was that there was, technically, no such person currently aboard the station. O'Neill was the closest thing, and she had already begun taking orders from him, so she guessed that qualified. The problem was that she could not tell him how to reactivate the Security Field on the Command Center without the intruders hearing. And if they heard that, they would surely figure out that she was more than a simple, stupid computer. And then, the game would be up. No, she needed a better, subtler way.

She began to consider her options. One, she could hope that O'Neill would touch one of her PsiPlates. Then she could communicate directly with him. But the risk there was that he would not have reason to do so. No, she had to be certain that she could get the instructions to him, tell him what she needed from him.

Then there was his very primitive form of communications device. It could be useful if she could properly adjust her frequencies.

Then an idea came to her. And had she possessed a form, that form might have smiled with the sheer brilliance of the idea.

The Human brain, indeed the brain of any sentient, operated on bio-electrical signals which were transmitted at certain frequencies from neuron to neuron. And if she could find the exact frequency of those signals, she could communicate directly with O'Neill in the technological equivalent of Telepathy. It was, in essence, no different than finding the comms frequency of another machine and tapping into it. The brain, at its most basic, was a most intricate and sophisticated computer, after all.

So, bearing this in mind, she began to scan O'Neill, analyzing the signals that passed from neuron to neuron within his brain, searching for the single frequency that would allow her to communicate with him.

He was stalling. He had no idea of how to operate this station save the touch-plates, but he'd be damned if he gave the Jaffa and their Master that! But he could not simply stand by and do nothing either. He knew this enemy well enough to know that Jaffa never bluffed when it came to this sort of thing. He moved to the Command Chair and sat slowly, eyes sliding over the controls. He needed an idea, and he needed it yesterday.

I have a solution, O'Neill. A soft voice that somehow resembled the ever-present voice of the station's AI whispered in his mind, and he nearly jumped out of the chair. His eyes flicked to Koraes, but she still looked too frightened to think clearly . . . even if she could do that. But it was not his own thoughts either. His eyes returned to the panel.

"What are you waiting for, Human?" The Jaffa with the Staff pointed at Koraes growled, powering up the Staff but not firing it . . . yet.

Koraes could not help it; a whimper escaped her, and she closed her eyes. This was a complete Nightmare! She prayed it would end but not with either her or her new friend dead.

"Back off, Jaffa." Jack ground out between clenched teeth. "I'm trying!"

Tell me quick, 'cause I'm pretty sure his trigger finger's getting itchy. He thought, hoping that whatever the voice was, it would indeed have a way out that did not involve death for either himself or Koraes. Normally, this whole talking in his head thing would make him completely freaked, but he didn't really have any options right now save to try to keep calm and hope that trusting it didn't backfire and bite him in the ass later.

Touch the keys in the exact order I show them to you. The voice instructed gently.

What will that do? Better yet, who are you? He fired the questions back, feeling completely foolish even entertaining this notion. Surely, he'd just finally flipped.

No time, O'Neill. The voice whispered back urgently. I promise I will explain once you and Koraes are safe. Please . . .?

O'Neill hit the chair arm with one hand as though he were frustrated with the controls, buying a few more seconds from the Jaffa. All right. Show me. He agreed finally. What choice did he have really?

The sequence came fast. Blue, green, red, green, blue, yellow, yellow, grey, blue, then the black key. He frowned as he tried to remember that. His eyes came up to the Jaffa. "Okay, what exactly do you want it to do?" He asked, giving the impression of capitulating with the demands.

"Sensible." The Jaffa smirked, pleased with this turn of events. It would have been a waste to shoot the girl, after all. She could be useful, though not as one of his troop. "I want Command Access."

Jack frowned, pretending to hesitate, to reconsider. If he made it too easy, the Jaffa would know he had more up his sleeve than just his arm. The Jaffa bought his ploy and tightenedh is grip on his Staff just a bit. Not enough to fire it, but almost.

"Okay, okay." O'Neill 'relented' immediately. But he could not keep the slight smirk from his lips as he entered the sequence the voice had given him. Whatever it was, he was fairly sure it was not going to be good for the Jaffa invaders.

Kel'thar, First Prime of Ares, was pleased. This had been easier than he had expected it to be. After hearing about this Human and his team, SG-1, he had expected this to take much more convincing and maybe even a death or two. But this O'Neill was smarter than the Rumors gave him credit for. He stepped forward to watch each key O'Neill hit, a slow smirk sliding over his features. Soon the station would be his. And when it was, he would . . .

The thought never finished itself. As O'Neill hit the last of the keys, Kel'thar felt himself become lightheaded. But even that feeling did not last more than a millisecond. It was followed by oblivion.

"Internal Level One Security Field reactivated." Ssendrriya announced over the hidden speakers in the Command Center just as the Jaffa vanished, never to be seen or heard from again as their atoms would now be scattered across half a parsec of space. "Enemy troops removed. Would you like me to activate Level One throughout the entire Station?"

O'Neill blinked then laughed. Oh, that was clever! "Absolutely!" He answered without hesitation as he got up from the Command Chair and moved toward the shaking Koraes whose eyes were still tightly closed, arms wrapped around herself in A sort of self-protective way.

As he neared her, Koraes released her arms and wrapped them tightly around him in an almost desperate grip. Relief washed over her, and she could no longer hold all the tears of fear and relief in. They spilled free, dampening his uniform shirt as sobs wracked her slender frame. It was over! And they had both survived it! Praise the Gods!

O'Neill was startled by her sudden grip on him at first, but after a moment, he simply put gentle arms around her and let her have the moment. She was, in some ways, very much a child still. And children needed comforting in such situations.

No, he thought, children shouldn't be in such situations!

"Colonel O'Neill? Jack, you there?" His radio startled them both. Koraes leapt back and stared at the thing wide-eyed. Jack blinked and looked at it. But after a second, he activated it and answered.

"Daniel? Is that you?" He asked. "Where have you guys been?"

There was a pause from the other end, then Sam's voice came over the small unit. "Jack, we've been trying to override the Gate here and get back." She answered, relief evident in her tones.

"Well, good work, Sam." O'Neill complimented, glad beyond what he had expected to be to hear their voices, especially Sam's. "We've had a bit of excitement here." He looked at the girl then back at the radio. "I'll explain it all when I get back."

Another pause. "From where, Jack? All I see is trees." Daniel's voice again.

"Me too." Came Sam's confirmation.

"Agreed, O'Neill." Teal'C added his confirmation to theirs. "There do not appear to be any structures nearby."

O'Neill looked at Koraes for explanation. She smiled. "It is not near the Gate." She explained while he held the radio so that the others could hear her words. "It is on the other side of this world. I will Translocate O'Neill back to you."

O'Neill blinked and looked at Koraes, shutting off the radio for a moment. He almost asked why she was sending him back and not coming, but the look in her eyes answered it. The same reason she did not go home. Ssendrriya had said the Plague had not been able to take up residence in him because he had been altered somehow. He suspected that it had to do with all the nanobots, tinkering of Ancients' equipment, and miscellaneous and sundry other things that had tampered with him over the years. But the others were not altered the same as he was. They might be susceptible to it. And she was not willing to take that chance.

He wanted to protest this, to take her with them and damn the risks. But, for all that she was a child in many ways, she was right. He could not. If the Ancients and their Allies had not been able to cure it, it was unlikely that the SGC would either. And there were just too many lives at risk if she went with him.

Once again, he found himself admiring the girl and her courage as he set a hjand gently on her shoulder. "Good bye, Koraes." He said softly, for him, ruffed her hair, and stepped back. Jack O'Neill was not one for long, drawn-out good byes. He never had been.

Koraes understood. She moved to the Command Chair and looked at him once more. "Thank you, O'Neill." She whispered before activating the control that would take him back to the Gate . . . and his friends . . .

End