Chapter 13 – Solutions Don't Work

General Hoffman looked down at Colonel O'Brien from the Control Room with his arms crossed. They had turned down the lights almost completely off so that the Colonel could try to sleep. When he was asleep, the General knew, he didn't feel the pain, and that's what Joseph wanted for his second-in-command.

Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was eight at night on the second day Colonel O'Brien was on the wall. The Colonel wasn't eating, nor drinking, so two IVs were inserted into the veins of his hands. He was also getting a high fever, so Dr. Fields hasn't slept at all since the incident, either. There was suddenly a soft knock on the door, which brought him back to the matter at hand. A very tired and disheveled Dr. Fields stepped in.

"How is he?" the General asked, prepared for the worst.

"Well, sir, he says that he's really hot, but that's just from Lieutenant Rogers trying to melt through the metal—it's also from the fever, but it's surprisingly decreasing. He seems fine beyond that. His wound isn't bleeding, nor infectious…I really don't know what to say beyond that he's stuck to the wall and has a slightly high temperature…I've also had, however, Alex tell me that she saw something like a patch of a glowing substance on the Colonel's neck and face when Sartgun energy went through him. I swabbed it and sent it to the lab for testing. I'll be getting the results by this evening."

"That's good, doctor. How is Lieutenant Rogers doing? How far is he?"

"Well, sir, he has been going at it all night and day. He says that it's not any kind of metal that's found on Tierra or Earth—Alex confirmed this. Even with over 24 hours of him and Dagón trying to melt it, they're only about halfway."

"How much longer do you think they'll need?"

"I've talked to Daniel and he says that he's having trouble with the translation of the writing on the artifact. He says that he thinks that now that he's getting used to his powers, he needs to be farther into The System in order for them to work that well. He says that he knows he can do it, but it's like a barrier was formed between the parts of his brain where he can translate it, and then understand it. After he wakes up, he wants to know if he could go off-world to see if it works there."

The General thought about this for a moment, then nodded. "I'll send a note to his room. He has a go, as soon as he wakes up. I'll have Alex go with him. She might be able to see what she can about the place the artifact was found."

Kate nodded. "That's good, sir. But, um…send that note to the science bay. They fell asleep at their stations."

The General laughed for the first time since the incident occurred. "They did? I told them to get some sleep! But, then again, I know what it feels like to be so enthralled in work that the need to keep going is so strong that it makes the need of food and rest disappear until you utterly collapse. I'll send them the note there and have Dagón take them some food."

"Yes, sir," Kate said and left the room, a smile on her face for the first time in a while.

"Unh," Daniel mumbled as he opened his eyes in the science bay. He didn't like the fact that he had fallen asleep, but he felt like he was more able to take on whatever needed to be done after his nap. Looking over at the other desk, he saw that Alex had fallen asleep where she had been working, as well.

"Well, at least I wasn't the only one," he muttered to himself as he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "But, of course, I'm the one who's different…" Putting his glasses up to his eyes again, he saw that there was a smudge of dirt on one of the lenses. Sighing, he took them off again and cleaned them.

From the other desk came a slight moan. Alexandra was up, though from the sound of it, she had fallen asleep in an unnatural position and was feeling the consequences. When she lifted her head, he could see the lines on her cheek from where she had laid on the keyboard. Turning away, he found a note on his desk.

After reading it, he handed it to a stretching and yawning Alex. "We're going back to P38-451. Hoffman wants you to learn what you can about the room that the artifact was in and he wants me to try to translate the pictures there. He knows that I'm still adjusting to my powers, so he wants me to take them into The System so that I can translate them faster."

"Oh, great. When do we leave?" Alex didn't seem as grumpy as she tried to sound. Daniel gestured to the food sitting on another table.

"We leave, I guess, right after we eat."

"Oh, good! I'm starving!"

"Yeah," Daniel said as he grabbed a plastic goblet of orange Jell-O. "I haven't eaten anything since the day before yesterday…"

"Mm…I hear you," Alex said. "Eat slowly. I don't want to go so soon after I wake up."

"Yeah, but John needs us. I'd like to get there, translate them if I can, and then come back as quickly as I can. I don't want John there longer than he has to be. I'll be back."

Daniel got up from his desk, and though he was still starving, he started walking to the bridge of the ship, intent on finding out all he could about the Colonel's condition and how he could help until they needed to leave for P38-451.

"How is he?" Daniel asked a minute after knocking on the General's door.

Tiredly, but not annoyed, the General looked over at Daniel. "Fields says that he's better than yesterday. His fever is going down, and he's been sleeping a lot because of the morphine Kate gave him. He's hopefully not in much pain anymore…but then there's a matter of a new substance found on his head and neck. Fields is checking it out right now."

"How are Dagón and Rogers doing? How far are they?"

Joseph blinked once and yawned before beginning to say, "They're—"

"General!" Rogers shouted through his comm. "We're almost through!"

Smiling, Hoffman said, "There's your answer. Let's see what happens."

Daniel and Joseph watched through the window of the dialing room. Down below them, across the room, was John—weak, sick, and sweating with the metal pole protruding from his chest. Even farther down was the artifact, which was glowing slightly because of the intense heat of the torch. Lieutenant Rogers, wearing welding gloves and mask, was bent over the rod that was connecting the Colonel to the concrete and metal wall, trying his hardest to get through.

After a few minutes, both could hear a snapping sound as the pole began to brake in half. But then, suddenly, right as the shaft was about to snap from the torch, a sudden whirring noise came from the artifact. The artifact 'grew' two more poles from where it had snapped; which then, without warning, were propelled upwards to the Colonel—one into the original wound, the other into his stomach.

John, waking from a medicine-induced sleep, screamed in pain, gasping for air. Hoffman frantically summoned Kate to the 'Gate Room, then turned towards Daniel.

"I want you and Major Croft ready to depart within ten minutes. We need to get Colonel O'Brien off of that wall."

Nodding grimly, Daniel said, "Yes, sir. We're on our way." Daniel ran back to the science bay.

"We're leaving in seven minutes to P38-451," he announced as he entered the room. "John's condition is worsening. We need to get there and get back ASAP."

"What? What happened?" Alex seemed really distressed from the news.

"You'll see when we go. Pack up the things that you think you'll need. Dude has determined that we are safe on the surface without any radiation suits."

"All right," the Major said, and they both started packing.