The Gate
"Unauthorized off world activation!" Sounded throughout the Mountain. General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill and the rest of SG1 rushed to the gate control room.
"Receiving IDC. It's the Tok'ra." Stated the young lieutenant who was on duty.
"What do they want now?" Colonel O'Neill rolled his eyes.
"Open the iris." General Hammond ordered as he headed out of the control room with all of SG1 following in his wake.
Anise stepped through the glimmering blue light and the wormhole disengaged.
"Stand down!" Hammond ordered the SF's. "Welcome to earth. What can we do for you Anise?"
"We have some very interesting news from one of our operatives in the field. May we go to your conference room?
"Yes, of course." General Hammond answered "Follow me."
Once SG1 one was settled at the table, Anise began. " We have learned of a planet called Ahmenbeck on which there is a weapon that will kill the Gou'ald symbiote but not the host. We know very little about this weapon, but it has no effect on humans. We also know that it is not a traditional weapon such as an energy or a projectile weapon."
Anise looked around the table and could tell that there was cautious interest among the personnel seated there.
"So why haven't the Tok'ra sent someone to Ahmen-Rah to check it out?" Asked Jack.
"Because, Colonel, if the weapon does exist, and it does work, it would kill us too." Replied Anise.
"Ah." Was Jack's only reply.
"You have no other information to give us?" Asked General Hammond, scepticism evident in his voice.
"Only that the system lords have decreed this planet off limits and non of them will ever return."
"Well, if that is the case then it should at least be safe for us to go check it out." Stated Daniel.
"I recommend caution, Sir. We should send a MALP and a UAV through first to make sure there is no threat to us." Warned Major Carter.
"Agreed." Said the General. "Have the MALP and the UAV ready in one hour. Anise you will provide us with the coordinates to Ahmenbeck?
"Yes, of course General." She replied.
"Very well people. Let's check it out and make a determination based on MALP and UAV telemetry. Dismissed"
At 0700 the next morning SG1 was suited up and standing in the gate room waiting for the stargate to finish its dialing sequence to the planet designated as P4X-771.
Once the wormhole was established General Hammond announced "SG1, you have a go. See you back in 36 hours."
As the team stepped out of the gate on Ahmenbeck, the first thing that hit them was rain.
"Oh, crap!" exclaimed Sam.
"So, Major, is this romantic?" Jack asked sardonically.
"No, Sir."
"How far is it to the village we saw from the UAV telemetry?" Daniel asked
"About 7 clicks." Carter replied.
"Of course it is!" Jack said cryptically.
"I believe it would be prudent to don our rain ponchos." Teal'c stated.
Jack was just about to make another sarcastic comment, but decided against it. Instead he took off his backpack, found his poncho and put it on.
"Which direction is the village, Carter?" Jack asked.
"Southwest. Bearing approximately 2-2-niner."
"There appears to be a cobblestone path that leads in that general direction, O'Neill." Teal'c had found the path in the wooded area just beyond the clearing around the stargate.
"Alright, let's follow the Yellow Brick Road, kids" Jack said.
"O'Neill, this path is not yellow, nor is it made of bricks."
"It's ok, Teal'c. You take point, I've got our six." Jack replied.
SG1 hiked in silence through the woods with a light rain falling on them for about 2 hours when suddenly the cobblestone path ended at a meadow blooming with bright red flowers. The blooms on the plants looked similar to pansies, however, the plants themselves stood over 2 and a half feet tall. About half a mile beyond the meadow, in a small valley, lay the village.
Jack winced. "Is there anyway to get to that village without hiking through this field?" He asked
The flowers were about knee high and the thought of tromping through them in the rain and getting their boots and pants wet did not appeal to any of the SG team members.
"I do not believe so O'Neill." Teal'c stated.
Daniel was looking at the village through his binoculars. "From here it appears that the people are about as technologically advanced as Earth about mid 19th century."
Jack adjusted the bill of his ball cap and then said "Alright, campers let's go."
About half way to the village Teal'c began to sway unsteadily. Daniel was the first to notice.
"Teal'c are you alright?" He asked catching up to the Jaffa.
"I do not feel well, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c said before his eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out.
"Guys! Help!" Daniel shouted.
Carter and O'Neill caught up to Daniel in seconds. Sam kneeled down beside the big man and felt for a pulse. Then she lifted an eye lid and noticed Teal'c eyes rolled back in his head.
"I don't know what it is, Sir." She said looking up at a very concerned Colonel O'Neill. "His pulse is strong, respiration is good, but he just passed out. Its almost as if he were drugged."
"Well, its almost 7 kilometers back to the gate and we're only a few hundred yards from the village Let's get him to the village." O'Neill ordered.
Carter nodded and took Teal'c's backpack and staff weapon. Daniel and Jack pulled the Jaffa up by his arms with Sam pushing from behind.
"This guy weighs a ton!" Daniel wheezed.
Daniel and Jack each draped one of the big man's arms over their shoulders and began dragging him the last 200 yards to the village.
As soon as they cleared the field, the cobblestone path reappeared and widened into a street that led down the middle of the village.
Daniel and Jack drug Teal'c into the village and Daniel began shouting at the first person he saw on the street. "Hey! Help! There's something wrong with our friend! We need help!"
Every person they saw looked at the small group with fear in their eyes and hurried off in different directions.
"Well, that's odd." Daniel groaned under Teal'c weight.
"Sir, there's a bench. Why don't you put Teal'c down there and Daniel and I can go see if we can find someone to help us." Sam suggested.
"Works for me." Jack stated and the two men draped Teal'c across the wooden bench.
Before Sam and Daniel could go off in search of help, a group a men, led by someone who appeared to be a constable, came up to the group and pointed rifles at them.
The constable spoke. "You came through the portal and brought an enemy with you!"
"What!" Jack nearly shouted.
"This one," the constable indicated Teal'c with the barrel of his rifle, "He is an enemy of ours. If you are his friends then you are our enemies as well."
"Um,...you don't even know us or where we came from. How can you say that this man is your enemy?" Daniel inquired
Before the constable could answer Sam added "He's sick. We need help to take care of him."
"That is how we know he is our enemy." The constable stated.
"What! You know he's your enemy because he's sick?" Jack was losing his cool.
"You came through the protection field. Anyone who is our enemy will become sick when they pass through the field."
"Sir, it must be the pollen or something produced by those flowers. It must act on the symbiote...Sir, it's the weapon!" Sam nearly whispered as the realization dawned.
"Ok, uh,...constable, look, our friend here used to be in the service of Apophis, but now he fights against the Goa'uld. He is not your enemy." Jack tried to reason with the man in charge.
The constable turned to his men "Lock them all up!" he ordered.
Immediately, SG1 was surrounded by a large group of men, their arms grabbed and forced behind their backs and their hands tied. The two biggest men picked up Teal'c, one grabbing his feet the other lifting under his arms. The constable's posse pushed and pulled SG1 toward the edge of the village to a building made of the same type of cobblestones that made up the road. Forced inside the building, the team found 6 prison cells; three on either side of a wide center aisle.
"Take their weapons and other gear and lock them each in a separate cell." ordered the constable.
The men did not bother to untie their hands as they shoved each member of SG1 into their own cell.
"The High Chancellor will decide your fate." The constable told SG1 and then took his men and left.
"Wait! When will that be?" Daniel shouted after them.
The only answer was the sound of the heavy prison door shutting firmly behind the men.
Carter was in the cell closest to the door on the south wall, O'Neill was in the center cell on the south wall and Daniel was in the cell farthest from the door. Teal'c was placed in the center cell across the wide center aisle from the rest of the team. Each cell had a stone floor and a wooden pallet, but nothing else. A small amount of light filtered into each cell from a tiny rectangular opening placed high in each cell.
"Carter, I'm going to put my foot between the bars of the cell and you try to reach my boot knife." Jack suggested.
"Yes, Sir."
She sat down on the cold stone floor with her back to the prison bars. Jack sat on the stone floor in his cell and carefully put his foot through the bars so that Sam could reach his knife. Looking over her shoulder and struggling with her hands behind her back, Sam finally managed to get her fingers on the knife. After a few minutes she was able to work it free from Jack's boot.
"There! I've got it Sir!"
Jack pulled his foot back into his own cell then turned around so that his hands were as close to Sam's as he could get them. She began working on cutting the rope and soon Jack's hands were free.
He took the knife and cut Carter's rope and then went to the other side of his cell and cut Daniel's hands free.
"Sir, I've been thinking..." Sam began.
"What else is new, Carter." Jack said sarcastically and then instantly regretted his comment.
Sam ignored it and continued. "Colonel, if something produced by those flowers caused Teal'c's symbiote to become sick, we have to find an antidote for it or Teal'c will die. Even if the symbiote just remains sick, Teal'c will die because as long as the symbiote is ill Teal'c doesn't have an immune system."
"I know that, Carter! Do you have a plan?"
"Can you pick the lock on your cell with your knife?" She asked.
"I can try, but I doubt it will work." O'Neill replied, but attempted to reach through the bars and began working on the lock.
While Jack continued to work on the lock, grumbling about not having any C-4, Daniel made another suggestion. "You know, with these rough cobblestone walls I might be able to climb up to that window and get someone's attention outside. If we could get a guard to come in here maybe we could talk to him and explain that if they will just let us go we will return and never come back."
"I don't think we're going to be able to talk our way outta here Daniel!" Jack complained.
Just then Teal'c became restless and, while still remaining unconscious, he began to thrash about. The rest of the team could see sweat breaking out on his face even though it was quite cool in the prison.
"I can't be sure, but I think Teal'c is having the same symptoms as a Jaffa who's symbiote has been removed." Sam stated.
"Do you think it has died?" Asked Daniel.
"I don't know. It could just be really sick." Sam replied.
"Ok, Campers, we have got to get out of here!" Jack stated.
Jack climbed up on the wooden pallet in his cell, but still could not reach the tiny window. He searched the cobblestone wall and found a toe hold and began climbing the wall until he reached the small window. Jack stuck his left arm through the miniscule opening to help hold himself up, then craned his neck to see out of the opening.
There was one lone guard pacing back and forth in front of the prison building with a rifle on his shoulder.
"Hey, you! Guard! We need to speak to someone in charge right away!" Jack called out. The guard continued his pacing and ignored the Colonel.
"Ok, look! We will leave your world and take our sick friend back with us to prove to everyone what will happen if they travel to your world. What could be better for you than having proof of your Goa'uld killing weapon than a sick Jaffa?" Jack shouted at the man.
The guard continued to walk his post and made no reply.
Jack's arm was aching and he couldn't hold on any longer. He released his arm and slid back down the wall, landing with a thud on the wooden pallet.
Just then Teal'c's eyes flew open and he shouted "Bratac! I cannot hold them off any longer! Save Ryac!" Teal'c was thrashing wildly about on the wooden pallet and the rest of SG1 was afraid he would injure himself.
"Sir, he's having hallucinations!" Carter exclaimed.
"Teal'c, hang in there buddy!" O'Neill shouted.
"Teal'c, you've got to try to Kelnorim!" Daniel yelled at his friend.
Teal'c continued to thrash about, but he seemed to be getting his hallucinations under control.
"Come on, T, stay with us!"
"Kelnorim Teal'c!"
"I. will. attempt. to. Kelnorim." Teal'c stated between clenched teeth.
"Carter, how long does he have, if the symbiote is dead?" O'Neill asked.
"48 hours at best sir."
"Didn't that constable say that our fate would be decided by the um,...high chancellor?" asked Daniel.
"Yeah, but no telling how long that will be! What I wouldn't give for a little C4 right now!"
"Sir! I've got a 9 millimeter clip in my pants pocket. Using a piece of the rope we were tied with for a fuse I may be able to use the gun powder from the bullets to create a shaped charge and at least get one of the cell doors open!"
"I have a lighter in my pocket we can use to light the fuse!" Daniel added helpfully.
"Ok. Well, it's a plan. Get to work on those bullets Carter."
"Sir, I'll need to use your knife to pry them apart. Also, we'll need the thinnest strand of rope you can get."
"How about a boot lace, Carter?"
"That'll do it Colonel!" Sam replied as she took Jack's knife. "Either one of you have a piece of paper?"
"Um,... I do, Sam." Daniel replied and handed a grocery list through the bars to Jack who passed it on to Carter.
Teal'c continued to move about restlessly on the hard wooden pallet, but had not called out, indicating that he was having some success with Kelnorim.
After about an hour, Sam finally had her shaped charge finished.
"Sir, we can only blow one cell door with this charge. I think it should be yours." When no one argued with her she continued. "The noise will probably draw the attention of the guard outside so you'll have to be ready to overpower him with your knife just seconds after the blast."
"Yeah, I got it, Carter." Jack replied.
He placed the crude explosive device into the lock on his cell and then took Daniel's lighter. Jack had his knife in his right hand and the lighter in his left.
"Fire in the hole!" He whispered as he lit the primitive fuse and quickly turned away.
The fuse smoldered and soon the fire reached the gun powder. Sparks flew and finally a loud boom was heard and the cell door flew open. Jack ran from the cell and hid behind the heavy wooden door that opened in on the prison. He heard footsteps rushing toward the door and soon the heavy barrier swung open.
Jack quickly grabbed the man from behind with his left arm wrapped around his neck choking off the man's airway. He grabbed the guard's rifle out of his hands and tossed it to Sam who trained the weapon on the man.
"Ok, buddy, you are going to unlock my friends and then you are going to help us get to the stargate!" Jack hissed in the man's ear. "You got that?"
The man's head nodded up and down.
"Ok, let's start with Carter." He said as he maneuvered the man toward her cell.
With Carter free Jack now had backup if he needed it.
"Daniel next!" And O'Neill moved him toward Daniel's cell.
Once Daniel was free they unlocked the cell where Teal'c was being held.
"Where are our weapons and our backpacks?" Sam asked the man.
"They were taken to the High Chancellor." The man replied in a shaky voice. "What are you going to do to me?"
Jack replied "You are going to help us get to the stargate and then we will let you go."
"I can not." The man stated.
"Very well. Take off your clothes."
"What!" He looked incredulous.
"You can keep your underwear, we just want your shirt, your jacket and your pants." Jack stated calmly.
Shaking, the man did as he was told. Jack handed his shirt to Carter and told her to put it on over her jacket. Jack took off his jacket, draped it across Teal'c like a blanket and then donned the guard's jacket. Finally, Jack had Daniel strip down to his black t-shirt and boxers. Daniel put on the man's pants and then draped his jacket over Teal'c as well.
"Ok, get into that cell." Jack said, indicating the cell that had held Major Carter. "Carter, lock him up."
She nodded, handed the rifle to Daniel who trained it on the man and then she locked the door.
The small prison was on the very edge of town, far away from the eyes and ears of the locals. The problem would be getting Teal'c out of there without drawing attention to themselves.
"Ok, here's the plan" Jack began "Carter, put on your cap." She looked at him questioningly but did as he ordered. "Ok, you take the rifle and point it at Teal'c. Follow behind us while Daniel and I drag him out of here between us. Hopefully if anyone sees us they'll just think we're the guards getting rid of the enemy."
"It might work." Sam said cautiously.
"It has to work!" Jack replied.
Sam opened the heavy jail house door just a crack and peered out. "The coast is clear! I don't see anyone!" She said.
Hurriedly Jack and Daniel struggled to carry Teal'c from the jail as quickly as they could. Sam followed behind, keeping the rifle trained on Teal'c while continually looking over her shoulder for approaching trouble. It was a short distance to the flower field which gave them minimal cover from being seen.
Jack and Daniel laid Teal'c down in the flowers where he was hidden from view and fashioned a harness from their BDU jackets. They placed one jacket on the ground and hefted Teal'c onto the garment. Then they took the sleeves of the jacket and threaded them under his arms. Finally, they tied the sleeves of the other jacket to the sleeves of the jacket Teal'c was laying on and they had a way to drag him through the field of flowers.
"The flowers will keep Teal'c hidden and hopefully if anyone sees us they'll think we are one of the locals since we're dressed in their clothes." It was an obvious statement but Sam was just thinking out loud.
The rain had stopped, but the ground was still damp as Jack and Daniel each took one side of the jacket and began dragging Teal'c through the flowers. The group did not stop until they reached the wooded area which provided more cover than the flower field. Daniel and Jack pulled Teal'c into the undergrowth and both plopped down to rest.
"I'm going to get some of those plants to take back to the SGC." Sam said.
"Carter!" Jack exclaimed
"Sir, we need to find out what it is that's making Teal'c sick and try to find an antidote."
"Well, stay down and don't let anyone see you!"
Sam slipped quietly to the edge of the field and took a couple flowers, part of the plant, the roots and the soil and placed them into the pockets on her pants and in her jacket. Then she hurried back to the rest of her team.
"Um, Sam," Daniel began, "What if this is a proximity weapon?"
"I've thought of that Daniel, but I don't think it is and we won't know until we analyze it anyway. Besides we can take it to one of the nuke labs and if it is a proximity weapon nothing will escape from there."
"Ok, kids, enough chatting. Let's get moving." Jack said as he lumbered to his feet.
It took SG1 nearly 6 hours to get back to the gate dragging Teal'c the entire distance. Once at the gate Jack ordered Sam to dial up the Alpha Site since their GDO's had been taken from them. When they reached the Alpha Site, the personnel there entered SG1's remote access code and soon they were back in the SGC.
General Hammond rushed into the gate room. "SG1 you're back early! What happened?"
"Well, General," O'Neill began "We found the weapon and it works on Jaffa too." Jack indicated Teal'c now laying on the metal ramp.
"Medical team to the gate room!" The General commanded.
"Alright, SG1 go see the doc and get cleaned up. We'll debrief in one hour!" General Hammond strode out of the room.
"The weapon is a flower!" General Hammond barked at the group sitting around the conference table.
"We think so sir." Sam replied weakly.
After SG1 explained the events that had transpired in the last 12 hours the General ordered Carter to get all the scientists in the building working on an antidote for Teal'c.
Even though she had had a long and tiring day, Sam still worked beside Janet Fraiser trying to figure out what was wrong with Teal'c and how to restore him to health. Sam had all the scientists in the Mountain working on the problem, but she wanted to be near Teal'c and liked working with Janet.
It was after 0100 in the morning when Janet Fraiser made her first break through.
"Sam," she said, "look at this!" She indicated the microscope and Sam peered through.
"Ok, what is it, Janet?"
"The flowers contain an organism that acts on the symbiote the same way general anaesthetics work on humans. Only in this case its like an overdose. If a human gets too much of some anaesthetics it relaxes the muscles so much that the person can't breathe and the heart doesn't function properly. That's what's happening to the symbiote."
"Can we kill this organism?"
"I don't know. Even if we can, it may be too late for Teal'c" Janet replied
Just then Teal'c cried out, obviously having another hallucination. Janet was startled by the sound and as she turned she knocked over a glass of ice water sitting on her work bench. An ice cube landed on one of the flowers from Ahmenbeck and the flower instantly shriveled up.
Janet had gone over to check on Teal'c and it was Sam who noticed the shriveled flower. "It couldn't be that easy." She said to herself as she hurriedly took the slide off the microscope and placed it on top of the ice cube. After waiting a few seconds she placed the slide back on the microscope and looked through.
"JANET!" She shouted, "Come here and look at this!"
Doctor Fraiser hurried over and looked through the microscope. "The organism is dead!" She said. "What caused it?"
"An ice cube!" Sam said excitedly.
"It couldn't be that easy, could it?" Janet asked and Sam just shrugged her shoulders.
Janet spun around on her heel. "Corpsman! I need every bit of ice in our ice machine, the ice machine in the gym and the ice machine in the commissary. I want you fill up the whirlpool in the locker room with ice and then I want Teal'c placed in it immediately!"
There was a flurry of activity as several medics and nurses rushed to follow the doctor's orders. Soon they had Teal'c lowered into a tub of ice.
"Now we just have to wait." Janet said.
"How low do you think his temperature will have to go before the organism dies?"
"I don't know, but I suspect we will have to give Teal'c a mild case of hypothermia to kill the organism."
Janet continued to check on Teal'c and monitor his vitals. After some time she took a blood sample, and reluctant to leave her patient, had a nurse take it to the lab and check for the organism.
The nurse came back after about 15 minutes and reported that the treatment was working. There were fewer of the organisms in Teal'c blood than there had been before.
Janet checked Teal'c body temperature. "It's down to 93 degrees." She reported. After another 30 minutes had passed Janet took another blood sample and sent it to the lab.
Before the technician could return with the results Teal'c began to shiver, then he opened his eyes and asked "Doctor Fraiser, why am I in a tub of ice?"
"Teal'c! How do you feel?" Janet asked.
Teal'c raised an eyebrow and looked at her as if she were crazy. "I am very cold." He stated.
"How is your symbiote?"
"He appears to be recovered." Teal'c said.
Just then the technician entered the room and reported that the organism appeared to be dead.
"Uh, Janet, before we take Teal'c out of the ice bath we need to get all of the flowers off the base and make sure that none of the organisms are still here."
"Right. Sam can you have that done in 10 minutes? I really don't want to keep Teal'c in the ice any longer than that."
"Sure." Sam said as she hurried from the locker room.
She quickly gathered all of the plants and soil she had brought back from Ahmenbeck and put them in a heavy plastic bio hazard bag. She then went to the gate control room and ordered the sergeant on duty to dial up Ahmenbeck. Once the wormhole was established Sam hurried to the gate room and tossed the bio hazard bag through the wormhole to Ahmenbeck. The wormhole disengaged and Sam called the locker room to tell Janet that she could take her patient out of the ice.
At 0900 the next morning General Hammond, Doctor Fraiser and all of SG1 stood around Teal'c bed in the Infirmary.
"Doctor Fraiser, I am quite well. May I please be released for duty?"
"Sorry, Teal'c, I want to keep you one more day to make sure there are no side effects and to make sure the organism is completely dead. From what Daniel told me, the effects of the organism were instantly incapacitating."
"People, I have ordered P4X-771 locked out of our dialing computer. While this organism certainly is promising as a weapon against the Goa'uld, I believe the dangers to friendly Jaffa and the Tok'ra to be too great."
The members of SG1 nodded mutely and General Hammond strode out of the infirmary.
"So, big guy," Jack began "Janet tells me she'll let you out of here in time for the weekend. So we decided that you can choose what we do for team night on Friday."
Teal'c smiled ever so slightly and said "I wish to watch the Star Wars trilogy."
Sam and Daniel groaned slightly but Jack just smiled and said "You got it! My house 1900 Friday. Pizza, beer and Star Wars!"