Chapter 20: Gruesome Discovery
Doctor Fraser walked quickly through he halls of the SGC, making her way to Major Carter's office. It was the most likely whereabouts of her friend, if she knew Sam as well as she thought she did.
Sure enough, as she came upon the ajar door leading into Sam's office, she heard quietmuttering coming from inside. Fraser tapped lightly on the door, heard Sam utter a small 'come in', and gently opened the door the remainder of the way.
Janet stepped in and saw Sam bent over her desk, appearing to read a blank sheet of paper. Fraser walked over to where Carter stood, and reached out to her.
"Sam, are you going to be okay?" Janet asked, her voice speaking only in friendly concern.
Carter nodded hurriedly, then paused and looked up to Janet. The Major's eyes were moist, and worried.
"Janet, do you know how to help him?" Carter asked quietly, her voice shook a bit.
"Not at the present moment, no. Tests show fair amounts of an unidentified toxin floating in his system. I'm presuming that the toxin came from whatever scratched him back on the planet." Fraser replied.
"He was scratched by what the locals call a walking shadow. The shadow has a poor track record."
"Murder, yeah, Jonas told me. He also claims to be having flashes of people being murdered, and seems to think that he's carrying out the deeds. Before you came in, he said that it happened again, someone else was killed. I don't know how he came across the knowledge, or if it's even true, but Jonas seems convinced."
Sam was watching Janet with wide eyes.
"I'm trying to separate the toxin from Jonas's blood. I hope that I succeed and hopefully find some way of counteracting the poison."
"Is there anything that I can do?" Sam asked.
"Actually, if Hammond gives you permission, I'd like you and SG-1 to return to the planet to see if you can confirm Jonas's story. If there truly has been another murder, I'll have to do some further brain scans, see if I missed something. Maybe I can find out the effects of the toxin on Jonas's brain, maybe there's some sort of connection between the two." Janet replied.
"You think Jonas is right? Do you think that the toxin is some sort of marker that opens a telepathic connection between the beast and Jonas?" Sam wondered, beginning to see where Janet was heading.
"Something like that." Janet nodded.
"I'll see General Hammond right away. Of course, I'll have to run the proposition by Colonel O'Neill first." Sam said.
"I know. Let me know the verdict, okay? I'll be in my office." Janet said, and with an encouraging grasp on Sam's shoulder she left the office, tossing a smile back at Carter, who returned it half heartedly.
"If you don't have any objections Colonel, I think a return trip is well in order. Perhaps you can stir the waters around, uncover something further." Hammond said.
"Are you sure about this, Sir?" Jack asked.
"Quite sure. Now, do you have anything to add?"
"Uh, when do we leave?" O'Neill questioned, his voice taking on a warning edge. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to that planet, but if it was the only way to help Jonas, he didn't see it fit to object.
"Twenty minutes. It should be morning there by then." Hammond said.
"Yes Sir." Jack said and left Hammond's office to go and inform the other two people on his team, who were awaiting the answer in the infirmary. They were checking up on Jonas.
When Jack entered the infirmary, he immediately felt the thick tension hanging in the air. Sam and Teal'c were seated next to Jonas's bed, speaking quietly with Dr. Fraser, while the young man slept restlessly.
"We have a go. We're leaving in twenty minutes, better get ready." Jack said. He saw Fraser smile in satisfaction, and Sam and Teal'c got to their feet eagerly.
The team was ready to go in less than fifteen minutes. They trooped into the gate room, signaled Hammond, and the technician began the dialing sequence that would take them back to Johnston's planet.
Stepping through the gate on the other side was much like stepping into a nightmare. The morning had a dreary quality to it. A feeling of dread hung thickly in the air, while a lone breeze fluttered past with a mourning sigh.
Colonel O'Neill shivered despite himself as he looked around in the early morning. Early was right, it couldn't have been much more than four thirty on the planet that they had just stepped onto. The sky and surrounding fields were still streaked with grey shadows, while the sun was barely beginning to peek over the horizon.
By the looks of it, they'd arrived at the perfect time. The morning appeared fresh, it hadn't been around for long, the smell of the night air still clung to the tendrils of fog that snaked around the team's feet. The grass was damp, creating a patch of wet at the bottom of each person's pant legs.
"Let's go. Surely someone's up." Jack replied carefully, his gaze drifting to the hazy sights of the town up ahead of them.
SG-1 set off across the field, the wet grass clinging to them as they went. The ground was soft, and with each step, their feet made vague impressions in the earth.
A little more than half way to the town, Jack thought he heard a rustle of movement coming from the grass behind them, he turned with a start and focused on the area very carefully. He saw the movement again, and saw a frog-like creature leap toward them. With an expression of suspicion, he watched the creature go and then continued to lead his team to the town.
Upon arrival, all knew that something was definitely off. The atmosphere just didn't feel right, and Jack thought he could smell the faint odour of blood in the air. The team walked carefully up to the castle, and stopped dead in their tracks.
There, in front of the castle door was a bumpy shape. A shape that O'Neill was sure he recognized. He broke into a run and skidded to a halt, mere inches from the dark shape. He dropped to his knees, and pulled a scrap of cloth away to reveal a still, pale face.
Jack yelled out, appalled at what he'd just found, and proceeded to turn the body over. The man which O'Neill had just found was the butler that had let them in the night of Jonas's attack. The man had three jagged scratches stretching from his left cheek to his collar bone, as well as various bruises clouding his complexion.
Without much thought, O'Neill reached to the neck to search for a pulse, sighed weakly and looked back to Teal'c and Sam.
"Nothing." Jack muttered. He gently pulled the cloth back up to cover the butler's face and stood.
"It looks like Jonas was right." Jack replied simply, a look of vague confusion passed over his face.
Sam nodded, and turned away from the sight of the dead man.
"We should tell someone." Sam said.
"Yes, but who? The town looks pretty dead." With a visible wince, Jack turned to the body and forced himself to smile.
"Sorry about that." Jack told the corpse. Sam and Teal'c regarded their CO, and both were silently appalled.
"Maybe the law enforcement department." Sam suggested.
"Where's that?" Jack asked.
"I believe it is in the town centre, O'Neill." Teal'c said.
"Let's go and see." O'Neill led the way toward the town centre, passing darkened houses on the way. While he walked, he found himself lost in a daze, his thoughts kept returning to the danger this town was in and to the young man back in the SGC infirmary. As they reached their destination, Jack heard Sam yelp. He turned to her, and saw that she looked slightly sick.
"Carter?" Jack asked, and followed her gaze.
"Oh boy." Jack muttered.
Next to the fountain, there was another body. He looked toward the law office, and saw the corpses of two law officers, both of which were armed, the weapons discarded uselessly at their sides.
"Looks as though it was a tough night. For the villagers at least." O'Neill mused as he checked each of the bodies in turn to see if they were dead. Sure enough, all three of them had no life left in them, they were marked just as the butler was. The scratches were in different places, but the design of each was the same.
He got to his feet in front of the fountain body, and moved to sit on the fountain wall. He looked into the fountain and saw that the water was red. He saw why as his eyes crossed the glossy surface and landed on a young woman's body at the other side, still in her night dress, and face down in the water. An empty water jug lay next to her on the ground, and yet another floated in the water next to her head. He jumped up with a yell, and went back to where Sam was still staring at the sorry sight with wide eyes. While keeping his distance, O'Neill's gaze wandered back to the new body. Jack saw a burned out candle resting on the fountain wall next to the young woman, and cringed.
"Wonder if Jonas saw all of this coming?" Jack murmured to himself.
There was silence all around, and Jack soon broke it. "Come on, let's go back to the gate and tell the General what we found. Then we'll inform the law and get back home before we get blamed for this." Jack motioned around the area with a single sweep of his hand.