Wow, I'm glad to see that the last part peaked people's interest! Must be doing something right LOL. Anyway, once again a big thanks to the readers who have made it this far. Things should be getting more dramatic and have more action from now on (I hope), so thanks for sticking with it up to this point.
I should acknowledge the Encyclopedia Mythica website as the source of my brief research into Norse mythology. Here is the address (replace the spaces with dots): www pantheon org/areas/mythology/europe/norse/articles html
Also, if anyone is interested, there is a drawing I've completed of an Innarim when I was still juggling the story concept around in my head - you can find it at www kaz-falcon-bsb supanet com/Einar jpg (once again replacing spaces with dots). Any comments you have on this are just as welcome as reviews!
I hope you enjoy this next chapter! And sorry if you get an alert
e-mail twice - I needed to edit the chapter to makes some slight
changes to the web addresses given above.
Chapter 11: Darker Motives
"I take it this is why you specifically requested that Colonel O'Neill wasn't to be present at this meeting?" Hammond guessed, still staring at the werewolf-esque creature on the main screen.
"Yes," Daniel breathed nervously. "I didn't have any idea how either of them would react. I imagine Jack wouldn't be too thrilled, but does Einar even know himself what he is?"
"You think he'd have an adverse response?"
"From what I can tell, the Innarim lived alongside the Hakonans peacefully. The Hakonans were excellent scientists, while the Innarim were extremely effective soldiers," Daniel explained.
"Sir, how would you feel if you were suddenly told the people you lived with and defended so devoutly created you to be a gun – a tool with a set function – and had been deceiving you your entire life?" Sam posed with a flicker of insubordination in her tone.
Hammond, however, was too taken aback to be concerned about that. He frowned and sighed.
"So you're saying he might go crazy if we tell him!"
"It seems highly likely, GeneralHammond," Teal'c responded to the exasperated question. "The alien appears to be far more open and willing to express himself than O'Neill - he has no reason to suppress his feelings. If he is indeed disturbed by this information, then he may turn on us for revealing these facts to him. I believe it would be wise to keep him ignorant of this."
"I agree with Teal'c, sir," Sam added, her voice subdued and wary. "He's a weapon – he'll have been designed to kill. Colonel O'Neill may have priority control since it's his body, but there's no telling what Einar's emotional or psychological response would do to the Colonel. If the reaction is intense enough, it can really affect him too."
"Very well, we won't inform either of them about this new information," Hammond agreed. "Keep translating the text, Dr. Jackson – see what else you can find out about the Innarim."
Why did they lock us here in your quarters? I'm sure they left the door open all the time before now.
Jack was lying on his back on the mattress, staring blankly at the ceiling in boredom.
To make sure we don't run off anywhere. They don't want your information-filled mind disappearing on them.
Ah…
I know I liked you attitude back there, but are you really not going to tell them anything, ever? I've already been stuck in the base all week now.
Perhaps in time, but I can't see it happening in the near future. As I said, I don't trust them.
Why not?
You don't.
Jack turned onto his side, trying to get comfortable on the hard, military bed. Failing, he punched his pillow in an effort to get some volume and cosiness back into it.
You're basing your opinion solely on what I think?
Well, it's hard not to see things from your point of view, when we're like this…
You'd willingly be biased like that? Why?
I'm affected and swayed by emotions, just as your kind are. Being biased is surely an inescapable part of having feelings and opinions, part of being alive – I simply choose not to pretend otherwise. Why lie to myself, by running from my feelings?
Jack didn't answer. He sighed and just lay there in the company of his own thoughts. As his mind raced through sudden conflict and regret, he knew Einar couldn't miss noticing it. The alien had been speaking with at least some implied criticism, but it was far from malicious. It had almost been sympathetic. Jack was grateful that Einar wisely refrained from questioning him about his retreat into his own thoughts that left the curious alien with only the shared emotion as tantalising evidence of his pondering. As each conversation passed, he was thankful that what they learned about each other helped them to get along, no matter how guarded they were about their own knowledge.
But Einar's words had struck a chord inside Jack, awakening something he had strived desperately to keep hidden for the new resident in his very mind.
'Why lie to myself, by running from my feelings?'
Hammond scanned over the printouts of the database translations on his desk. There were several pages, and most of it looked scientific – not his field of expertise. Sam and Daniel were sitting at the opposite side of the desk in his office, waiting patiently and respectfully.
"So this is everything you could find on the Innarim?"
"Yes, General," Daniel replied. "In this database, at least. There may be more to them than this."
"The project details for the lab show that they were looking at new energy research to do with the kurstallis crystals, as well as neuro-scientific testing. There wouldn't be any need to keep a complete record of the Innarim at a remote outpost like this."
"Any full records would have been kept on Hakon, but from the look of things they've long since been destroyed," Daniel added.
"Einar himself was very clear that he is unwilling to entrust any further information to anyone outside the few people he's had contact with," Hammond reminded. "That's SG-1, Dr. Frasier and I. Would it be possible for the five of you to get any information out of him which could then be passed on?"
"I think Einar's probably on his guard after he was questioned by Colonel Kennedy, sir," Sam shook her head. "It'd be pretty obvious that we were finding out information to give to the Pentagon. He'd just be as stubborn with us now."
"Very well, Major," he sighed, defeatist. "What exactly have you two discovered from this database information?"
Daniel sat forward and sifted through several sheets, plunging ahead immediately. Not only was he concerned about wearing thin Hammond's patience, he found the whole concept of the Innarim and their background fascinating in a confused, appalled sort of way. He found his page of research and began.
"The use of a wolf as a warrior wasn't just coincidence or random choice," he stated. "Looking at Norse mythology, there was a powerful monster called Fenrir who had the shape of a giant wolf. Legend states that Fenrir and his family were prophesied to kill the Norse gods at Ragnarok – the end of the world. The Innarim were likely intended to be wolf-like because of the culture of the Hakonans – they were designed to be god-killers, just like Fenrir."
"I've had a look over the genetic information that Daniel's been able to translate, sir. The Hakonan must have been extremely advanced in biological sciences," Sam interjected, "and I think we've found several characteristics that the Innarim were designed to have. They were warriors, so they were both strong and fast, and chasing the Goa'uld from world to world – even onto ships – meant they were made extremely adaptable to survive lots of environments. The human side of them comes from having a larger brain than that of a wolf, allowing them greater intelligence. On the other hand, some qualities from the wolf genome were retained – the pack instinct offered the disposition for strong loyalty and devotion to their own communities;, the hunting instinct allowed them to operate self-sufficiently for long periods of time away from Hakon, and would have been an advantage in combat."
"Even that sounds like significant findings."
"There is… something else, sir," Sam added.
Hammond watched the two of them shift about uncomfortably in their seats. He frowned at each of them in turn, silently demanding an explanation.
"To have a creature this genetically specialised, you have to have a downside to it – it can't be perfect. From what I can tell, they managed to use this to their advantage. The Hakonans chose to forfeit any capability of meiosis in the Innarim."
"Major?"
"They have no natural reproductive system, sir," Sam simplified. "The Innarim species could only survive through the Hakonans making more of them. And that's not the only limitation they imposed. It is theoretically possible for aging to be halted by genetic engineering, but the Hakonans did the opposite. They designed them to naturally begin to fail like any other organic life form, but once they reached 1000 years old."
Hammond raised his eyebrows.
"That's what I thought, sir," Daniel commented. "Sam thinks they weren't insane enough to let loose a sentient weapon without some kind of failsafe. They removed any possibility of them reproducing by themselves, and they programmed them to die – if anything ever happened that made the Innarim a threat to the Hakonans, all they had to do was let time kill them all off."
"It's one thing to tell him he's a weapon," Sam stated grimly, "but this is something else entirely."
"Will any of this affect Colonel O'Neill?"
"No, since there is no physical component of Einar present in the Colonel, he won't have any of his DNA."
"Well, I've got some bad news for you myself," Hammond shook his head regretfully. "The Pentagon and the NID have jointly contacted the SGC."
"Oh no," Daniel breathed with irritation. "Let me guess – they're complaining about us bringing a potentially dangerous alien back to Earth?"
"On the contrary, Dr. Jackson," Hammond corrected. "They're over the moon about this incident. This time, we've done exactly what they've always wanted us to do – we've found a weapon designed to fight the Goa'uld. The NID wants to take a look at what we've found out about the Innarim, and they have the full backing of the Pentagon on this one."
"What?" Sam exclaimed.
"I've been ordered to hand over all the information we have on the Innarim from the database, as well as the kurstallis crystals, the modified generators… and custody of Einar himself."
"But he's still inside the Colonel!" Sam reminded fervently, almost standing up from her seat at the news.
"I'm well aware of that, Major," he sighed, "but they think they'd have more luck getting information out of Einar. Unfortunately, the NID is likely to be far less compassionate to his dignity as a life form than we are, or to the fact that Colonel O'Neill is there too."
All three of them knew what that meant – the nasty, unpleasant type of interrogation that involved torture, and which would affect both of them due to their experiential link, not just the one in control.
"We can't let them do this!" Sam exclaimed, appealing to her superior.
"Give me some credit, Major, I've been fighting this at every turn since I found out," the General admonished. "But there are only so many strings I can pull, and the President himself is ordering us to co-operate. Anything to do with the Innarim is to be handed over to the NID in two days, as well as Einar's original body should we find it on Stoneheim. Dismissed."
