"Three dead, sir." Sam met the General's stare with one equally professional, one calculated to disguise any shock she might feel. They walked down grey halls that seemed dimmer than normal. "One was Lt. Mason."

"Lt. Mason." Hammond paused, then turned in surprise. "Donna Mason? Didn't she just get back from leave?"

"Yes, sir. Her little girl was very sick."

"Just had a birthday, didn't she?"

"Just turned four."

"Mother of god," Hammond sighed.

Sam didn't want to think about it. It set her biological clock on edge. "We're still trying to identify the other two. After that kind of explosion there isn't much to go on."

"Any idea how this happened?" Hammond asked as they entered the conference room.

"At the moment there's no leads, and no idea as to what triggered the explosion. But I can say it is unlike any detonation device we have encountered."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, for starters, there is no trace of a chemical signature for a terrestrial weapon that would produce this kind of detonation, nor are there any mechanics left behind from the blast to study. That and the radiation signature isn't consistent with the weaponry we know." She spread sheets from her folder onto the smooth table surface.

"An alien device?"

"We can't rule that out, sir. The energy signature it left behind is unlike anything I've ever seen. In fact I suggest we completely close off the area until we know what we're dealing with." She looked up as Jack O'Neill entered with Teal'c. "Colonel."

"Major." Jack sat in his chair and swivelled toward the General. "Janet says Daniel is going to be fine. She's released him and he's on his way up now."

Sam blinked in astonishment. "That's good news, sir, but is that wise?"

"Well, you try keep Daniel in the infirmary. Doc said he could go, and you'd of thought his ass was on fire." Sam allowed a smile to light her face, and saw the half-hidden smile that the Colonel gave in response.

"I'm just glad he's safe," General Hammond said pointedly. He sat back in his chair and addressed the newcomers. "Colonel, is it possible that we could have provoked someone off world without our knowledge? Have there been any events or evidence in your recent travel that may suggest infiltration?"

"None that we can think of, General Hammond," Teal'c replied for Jack, who just shook his head.

"Sabotage?"

"General," Jack said, "we're looking at dozens of possibilities here. Rogue Tok'ra, NID, pissed off Russians 'cause we blew up their DHD . . ."

"At this point I'm reluctant to rule anything out, sir," Sam added, thus decreasing the verbal list.

"What action is being taken right now?" Hammond asked.

"We're still taking measurements of the radiation left behind," Carter passed the General a piece of paper. "With your permission, I think that level 23 should continue to be sealed off for at least the next 48 hours until we know what we are dealing with."

Hammond nodded, studying the sheet in his hands. "Dr. Frasier is still receiving reports of SGC personnel with headaches, temporary loss of hearing, and overall jitters. It seems the main injuries were sustained by those who opened the shaft, not to mention the unfortunate people inside. What of NORAD?"

"Slight percussion sickness, people with earaches, headaches, only very minor damage to the facility."

Hammond leaned back in his chair. "Keep level 23 sealed, as well as 22 and 24. I want code red status. No one is to leave or enter this base. Tell the off-world units they're on standby until further notice. The gate is to be used in emergency situations only. And I want NORAD on the line asap to verify their status."

"Yes, sir."

"Teal'c, you've seen the readings from the energy signature that Major Carter has. Do you have any experience with this kind of explosive?"

The large man raised a dark eyebrow. "I regret that I do not. However we are still obtaining information." His hands rested on the table; he turned the palm upwards in a motion of defeat. "At the moment, I am afraid I am of little use to you."

"We're all in a bit of a holding pattern right now, Teal'c. I'm sure when the time comes you will help in any way that you can."

"You have my promise, General Hammond."

"Good enough." Hammond looked up as Daniel entered the conference room. The relief in the room was palpable.

"I, uh. . .sorry I'm late," Daniel said rather sheepishly. He took his seat beside Jack and gave him a rueful look.

"Yeah, well, just don't let it happen again," Jack's tone was light, but he raised his eyes to look at the burn on Daniel's head. Daniel gave a nod to his unspoken question and turned his attention to the General.

"Glad to see you back, son."

"Thank you."

"You want to tell us what happened?" The question was gentle. Truth was, he hated to make the man talk, he was obviously still suffering some effects from the blast, including what sounded like a painfully scratchy throat.

Daniel leaned forward and rested his wrists on the table's edge. His fingers worried at each other as he collected his thoughts. "Uh, there's not a lot to tell, actually, I was on my way here and, literally, ran into Sgt. Greyson in the hall. I, uh, I dropped my things and he helped to pick them up." He paused as his sentences grew more painful to utter. "I headed for the elevator, but took the stairs instead. I – I had just reached the stairs – and there was this noise – everything shook and I fell. I saw people trying to open the elevator doors and I went to help." He stopped, pulling at his memory, and cleared his throat.

"You were at the elevator?" Sam prodded gently.

Daniel started. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I was. . .at the doors." He cleared his throat again and gently wrapped his fingers around the mug Jack set before him. He took a gulp of what he hoped was coffee, and turned out to be water, then continued. "We managed to open it a bit. There were, uh, four men in front of me, I think; I had to reach over them and try to work the top. We opened it an inch or so and this light came out, like a fireball, all heat, and it blew open. It threw us back. I-I heard another noise, and that's all I can remember."

"Another noise?"

"Like," he winced as his mind searched to describe the indescribable, "screaming."

Sam swallowed and looked down. The general took a deep breath and glanced at Teal'c, who was the very model of composure expect for the subtle look of distaste on his dark features. Jack kept stealing glances at Daniel. The silence hung in the air for sometime, each paying their respects in an impromptu memorial service of sorts. The general finally dismissed the team with the instructions that they were to stay on the base in the hospitality rooms.

Sam nodded and gathered her notes, and wasn't surprised to find Daniel at her side. "Going to the lab?" he asked.

She paused. "Yeah, I was going to run another spectromagnetic analysis."

Daniel nodded, and tucked his hands in his pockets. "Mind if I tag along?"

Sam studied his worn face and tired eyes, preparing to make the usual demand of rest and recovery, then looked at the pain in his expression. She nodded. "I could use the help. Thank you."

"Hey, you kids don't have too much fun," Jack commented as he held back so they could pass through the door. Sam just snorted and started down the hall, but Jack took her arm and nodded Daniel on. He waited until the man was further down the hall. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"Sir?"

Grey brows rose questioningly. "Daniel."

"I think he needs the distraction, sir."

"And I think he needs rest." His determined statement bounced off Carter's stern face. "Well, don't make him talk. Lemme ask you something. After an explosion like that. . .he didn't really hear them screaming, did he?"

Sam's eyes lowered. "It's doubtful. He could have easily heard the compression of the air as a result of the heat, or the roar of the flame."

"But he thinks it was screaming."

"It would probably sound similar, and with what happened he could easily have thought he was hearing screams."

"So. . .we looking at emotional shock here, or what?"

"That would be for Janet to decide, but it wouldn't surprise me."

"Right. Keep him busy for a little while, then I'll see that he gets some rest. No, wait, ya know, I'll come along too."

"Sir. . ."

"Ah-ah! Let's go. I need a way to amuse myself right now."

As it turned out, he didn't stay long. That didn't surprise Sam or Daniel, but it did relieve them to no end. Sam even gave an audible sigh as the Colonel left, which cause Daniel to grin. "Glad it's not just me."

Sam chose her words carefully. "Daniel, you know I like him, it's just that. . ."

"It's just that neither one of us are ready to have kids yet," Daniel teased as he winced into the microscope. "This isn't doing any good." He back away, rubbing at still sore eyes. "Sorry."

Sam turned in her chair. "Daniel, what are you doing?"

"Looking through this thing." He thumped the microscope with his fingernail.

She smiled. "You realize that has nothing to do with radiation detection or measurements of the trace element we found."

"No. . . but it looked interesting."

"Daniel. . ."

He grimaced. "Sorry. Guess this is either a little above me. Either that or I'm more out of it than I thought."

"Sit." Sam pulled a stool next to her and pointed to the graph on the screen. "This is a reading taken of an explosion using C-4, and this is the readings from the explosion in the elevator shaft."

"Nothing alike."

"Right. So we can rule out C-4. We're still testing chemicals in the labs, all weapons, but I really don't think there's anything here that would cause this kind of explosion."

Daniel toyed with a pen he'd plucked from her holder. "What's so special about it? I mean, it didn't blow the SGC to bits. There's things down there that could cause an explosion ten times this."

"Exactly. But the readings indicate that the power output is phenomenal, or rather the possible power output. This thing, whatever it was, is capable of an explosion that would not only take out this mountain but half of Colorado." She shook her head. "Apparently the conditions weren't right, or something."

"How do you know it was more powerful?"

"It has to do with the trace signatures." She pointed to the screen with her pencil. "These spikes are common for something with the power of an atomic warhead. Obviously if this thing had that kind of power when it exploded. . ."

"Bye-bye half the US."

"Something like that." She turned to the screen, the light creating an eerie glow on her face. "It's almost like it was semi-dormant, like something else was needed to trigger that extra power."

"So what happened to the extra power?"

"I don't know. It was absorbed, it's still in the air, I don't know. For all I know someone could light a match on level 23 and blow up the SGC. I don't even know what this power source is."

"So it's not anything from the station."

"According to these readings, I doubt it's anything from earth, unless someone is engaged in an experiment here we don't know about."

"So. . . this is caused by something extraterrestrial?"

"I don't know! It's just a theory right now, but I can't think of a single thing that would cause this kind of energy output without causing the kind of damage produced by an atomic explosion."

Daniel stared at the screen thoughtfully. "Sam, this is a crazy thought, but. . ." he shook his head and looked down.

"What?"

Daniel cleared his throat and took another sip of his drink. He gathered his thoughts. "This is something that is producing high amounts of radiation, and according to your current theory, is something that requires an outside source to trigger it." His voice faded painfully, and he took another sip of water.

"Right." Sam handed him a notepad, intending for him to use it rather than speak, but he waved it away.

"Well. . .remember that artifact I brought back from PX4112, several months ago, the one that we ended up storing for further testing?"

Sam frowned. "It showed unusually high levels of radiation. . ."

"And it took an outside element to trigger it, only we didn't know that until you found me unconscious at my desk when I was studying it." He smiled.

"Good thing too." She shuddered, trying to hide it from Daniel.

His thoughts were elsewhere. "We shipped it out for further testing, but it was shipped back, right?" Slight cough.

"Right. . .Doctor Holland requested that it be shipped out for further research, but the only reason it was shipped back was because it proved dormant after their experiments."

"Says who? I mean, how do we know for certain?"

Sam's eyes narrowed. "You think it was still active?"

Daniel nodded, and leaned over her, staring at the screen. "It's possible. Do a search. See if anyone entered the vault prior to the explosion, and if anything had been signed out."

Sam typed in a search, several passwords, and waited. "There! PX 4112-S7-98, signed out at oh-seven hundred. . .that was just ten minutes before the explosion."

"Who signed it out?"

"Uh. . .oh." She winced. "Lt. Donna Mason."

He straightened. "Okay, that could be a problem."

"No, time wise it could work. She could have signed it out, keyed in the info, gone through security protocol. . ." Sam turned to another screen and typed in a search, then pulled up a graph. "Um. . .yeah, look." She swivelled the screen towards him. "Compare the two spike signatures."

Daniel looked. The lines soared like the peaks of the Rockies. "They're the same."

"I'll need to run some more tests, but you might be onto something here." She sensed a heavy presence hovering at her shoulder. Daniel was studying the screen again, his eyes winced, his head drooping. "Daniel, you've done all you can here. You've been great. Now I'm kicking you out. Go sleep. Gargle."

Daniel's retort was capsized by a yawn. "Yeah, okay. I'll be in my office."

"You know you were assigned sleeping quarters."

"I'm used to sleeping at my desk."

"Daniel, rest. No work. Rest."

"Pot, Kettle. You're as annoying as Jack, you know?"

"No one is that annoying. Go. Good night."

"More like morning," he croaked, and glanced at his watch yawning again. He gave a wave and staggered to the door.