Chapter 10 – Danger in the Midst
"What is it?" Hoffman asked as the GC team escorted the object they had to the science bay of the S.S. Karma.
"We don't know, sir," John said rapidly as he jogged to catch up to Daniel and Alex, who were running down the corridor with the box. "But it keeps getting heavier every two minutes or so—it's really heavy now. They need to get it to the isolated examination room as quickly as possible before it's too heavy to move."
"Go!" the General said in reply as he ran slowly next to his Colonel. John then poured on the speed and was down the corridor in a minute.
Alex and Daniel got to the examination room. Once they finally got the very heavy box on a counter and opened the lid, the object inside became as light as it had been at first on the planet.
"That was very strange," Daniel remarked as he gently lifted the object out of the box and placed it into a Transsteel containment container where they could perform tests on it.
"Yeah," Alex replied, typing in commands into the computer. "I wonder what it does."
"I wonder what it says," Daniel replied. "There's a sort of writing on it."
"Hey, Major; hey, Doctor!" John said as he entered the room. "What have we got?"
"Well, sir," Alex said, while gesturing to the artifact. "When we stopped moving it, the object wasn't heavy any more. It was the weirdest thing. Daniel hoisted the box onto the counter, opened the lid, and just took it out of there as if it didn't weigh that much. It's very strange, sir."
"Yes, it is." John then crossed his arms over his chest and winced. Looking down at his hand, he realized he had a shallow cut there. "Hmm… You two keep working on that. I need to go see Fields about this." The Colonel left in a hurry.
"See Kate for a cut? Ha! That's hilarious," Alex snorted as she stared into the Transsteel box before her, pressing her hands against the sides of the almost-invisible container.
"So the Colonel likes the Doctor," Daniel commented while coming to look in, standing next to the Major.
"Yeah. He thinks no one knows it but him. He thinks his momentous longing glances at her go unobserved. The Colonel even probably thinks that we're stupid enough to think that his very frequent visits to the medical wing go unnoticed… Well, it seems to be working for the rest of the team, mind you. They have no clue as to what is going on. You're the first to notice it. I'm not sure that Kate knows it…"
"Wow. The others must be really blind! She must be blind!" Daniel remarked as they began to get ready to perform some tests.
"They are."
"Major?" a new voice suddenly called. It was Lieutenant Rogers, a new recruit from Old Earth, and Alex didn't even look over before she shuddered.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"We're ready to start the tests." The slight tremble in the lieutenant's voice made Alex sigh.
"Lieutenant, take a deep breath! You've done this before!"
"Yes, ma'am."
Alexandra turned back to the artifact.
"You know, Alex," Daniel said with a knowing face. "That lieutenant is nervous not because of the artifact…he's always nervous around you. I think it's called, oh, what is it? A crush."
Alex looked sideways at him. "Thanks," she said sarcastically.
"We've begun recording, sir," Rogers said over the intercom nervously, clearly having heard what the linguist had said.
Daniel looked back to Alex. "Oops." Then, from the pedestal it had been set on, the artifact began to rise up as Rogers moved it through the different stages of the testing. "Oh! Hey!" Daniel remarked as they turned back to the Transsteel enclosure. "The artifact!"
As they watched it, Daniel began to concentrate on it, trying to read the alien language. It wasn't changing before his eyes as fast as it had on The Wasteland, but Daniel just thought that The System helped the gifts a bit. Slowly, it seemed to come clear.
A few hours passed, and Daniel and Alex had gotten very far on translating and working with the artifact.
"Lieutenant, the readings please?"
"Yes, ma'am," the man replied. "The internal temperature of the artifact is maintaining 57o Fahrenheit. It is emitting small bursts of gamma and alpha radiation, but they're harmless. Nothing seems to have changed because of the testing."
"Thank you, Rogers."
"Yes, ma'am."
"The language is really old," Daniel remarked a little later as they photographed every part of the artifact, keeping them for future references and for Daniel to translate later. "It's one of the most basic forms of writing I've seen anywhere."
"It might tell us something about the people who made this," Alexandra said, looking hopeful. "But if they were so advanced as to make this, then why did they write so primitively?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Daniel said, and then looked up. John had entered the room.
"Hey, kids," he said with a slight smile. "It's already two in the morning, ship time. And, after all, GC-1 is a field team and we have another assignment due in seven hours. I suggest you two go to your rooms and get some rest before we go."
"But sir, we've only just scratched the surface of the—"
"Ah, ah, ah! Major Croft, get some sleep. That's an order. After we're back from our mission, you two can tinker around some more."
"But—"
"Major!" Rogers' voice cried out in a panic from where he was sitting. "The internal temperature is increasing! It's 64oF and rising!"
Alex looked over at Daniel and they both seemed to have the same idea, as did their Commanding Officer. Unlocking the door, John pulled Daniel away.
"I'll handle this! Go get the Spacegate opened! Hurry!"
"All right!" Daniel yelled as he ran out of the room to the dialing room. "Dude!" he yelled, breathless when he reached it. "Dial back to P38-451! Now!"
"Under whose orders?" Hoffman asked, alarmed that Daniel would order him to do something.
"Colonel O'Brien's," Daniel replied. "It's urgent!"
Nodding, Hoffman said, "Do it." Daniel ran down to be in the 'Gate Room with John and Alex.
"Can do, man," Dude said and started putting in the coordinates.
Alex and John came in then, dragging the artifact between them.
"Should we get our suits on, sir?" Alex asked, straining under the weight of the artifact.
"No," the Colonel replied, puffing out a pent-up breath. "We're just going to throw this into the Spacegate." The connection was established and the 'Gate swirled outward, all aqua and glowing slightly.
Just as they were nearing the ramp, however, they needed to drop the artifact in fear of straining or breaking something on their bodies. To both of their surprise, the artifact did not crash to the floor, but instead sat suspended in midair, spiraling slightly, as if it was looking for something. Then, with no warning, the top of the pyramid-shaped artifact slid downwards, exposing many glowing transparent crystals, all each a different color. Then one shot out suddenly, hitting the ceiling. Attached to the crystal was a silver rod.
"Whoa!" John yelled as he moved out of the way. Both Alex and Daniel made it to one side of the 'Gate Room just as more of the crystals shot out. Colonel O'Brien wasn't that lucky.
"Sir!" Alex yelled, but as John turned around to see what the matter was, he wasn't able to react in time. A crystal, attached to a metal rod, hit him at full force through the middle of his chest right above his heart. Carried with the momentum of the speeding rod, the Colonel was flown backwards until the crystal head hit and buried itself into the wall, effectively pinning the Colonel there.
"John!" Daniel cried out.
John let out a cry of pain and rage as he dangled four feet above the ground, his feet hanging in the air, the pole though his chest the only way in which his body was supported. He could hear that Hoffman had pushed the panic button and could hear him summon Kate to come and see what she could do for him.
Now I'm seeing her for something really serious, John said with a grim smile through the pain, and I don't have to make up a reason. I hope I can at least say goodbye to her alone, and tell her how I feel…
Dropping everything, Alex, Daniel, and, soon after, Dagón ran up to John, taking his feet and putting resistance on them, trying to ease the stress on his rib cage and other parts the 'arrow' had punctured. They kept from trying to panic so that the Colonel wouldn't struggle more. Seeing their infallible Colonel helpless made them all feel insignificant and small.
"Colonel O'Brien!" John vaguely heard someone shout his name, as the world was beginning to get a bit blurry. Moaning for the last time, the Colonel passed out into a world of complete darkness.