Previously: "I mean, Daniel, I'll be at the base in 90 minutes. Seems there's some stuff we didn't know about Alex."

For the millionth time, Dr. Alexander Portmanoy rested his head on the white table. Barely aware he was doing it, his fingers trailed across the black and white photo of his wife. He didn't care that the cameras could see him in his moment of weakness. Right now, it was only the thought of Ella that was keeping him sane.

When he had first woken up in this room, his head had hurt so badly that he couldn't think of anything else. When the pain finally receded, he was able to open his eyes and look around him. He was lying on the floor of a small cell, shoeless and cold. There was a table and two chairs in the middle of the room. Bathroom facilities were tucked into the corner of the room. Everything was under the watchful eye of a camera.

Once he was on his feet, Alex saw an unlabeled manila on the table. He opened it and three pictures spilled out. They were all black and white surveillance photos of Ella. Fear sliced his heart, cutting through his confusion. One picture showed Ella leaving her office. The second was of Ella sitting alone in their living room. That picture could only have been taken from their back yard. But it was the third picture that tripped Alex into panic. It showed Ella skipping down the steps of her ob/gyn's office, a huge smile on her face. She was wearing the same sweater that she had been wearing the day she told Alex that he was going to be a father.

They know, he realized. Who ever 'they' are, they know Ella is pregnant.

Pain in his head forgotten, Alex snapped. He pounded on the door, demanding to be let out, screaming to be told who was keeping him. He beat at the door with his fists, finally kicking it in frustration. Pain lanced through his bare foot. He staggered over to the table before he fell to the floor. He had to think. He had to think!

Random thoughts spun through his mind. Had they grabbed Ella too? Was she somewhere stuck in a small room, pregnant, scared, and alone? The idea was tortuous. Ella hated small spaces. He needed to know. He could only hope that she was safe. He didn't even know how long he had been here, unconscious. By now Ella might have called the police. Surely, she would have called Daniel Jackson as soon as she realized something was wrong. Perhaps this abduction would finally reveal just what Daniel did for a living, Alex speculated dryly. Ella often hypothesized about the nature of Daniel's work for her own amusement. Her current theory was that Daniel ran a cartel of alien prostitutes and ninjas. Bleakly, Alex wondered if he would be rescued by a band of scantily clad ninja hookers with antenna and green skin.

This had something to do with the weapon, he was sure. Why had he ever agreed to work on it? He had never liked weapons research; it went against everything that he wanted to be. But he was so very bored, doing nothing but teaching physics to college students. The first time the military had approached him, the work was exciting. He was asked to consult on a plane design. Considering the holes in his background, he was very surprised when he was offered a full-time position on the Cheyenne base. However, by that point, he had fallen in love with Ella and knew that she would not want him to work for the military. She did not trust it, at all. So he simply left the door open for future contracts. And when they came he told himself that it did not matter that the assignments were weapons related. The projects paid enough to set up a tidy "nest-egg" for the future. That was all he wanted. A safe quiet lie.

He looked at the photos again. It had always baffled Alex that Ella, so perceptive when it came to Daniel Jackson's secrets, never suspected that her husband had his own. Alex loved his wife more than anything and she was far more than he deserved. She was vibrant and funny and loving. Most of all, Ella was open and honest and expected the same from those she loved. Alex was a liar. He didn't lie about many things. And he did not want to lie about anything. But he had to. It was the only way he could live with himself. But, he had never lied about loving Ella. He had never lied about knowing how lucky he was to have her in his life. Alex's lie was much simpler and far worse. Alex had lied about being a good person.

This project had come at such a good time. The pay was nice. The assignment was odd, though. Alex had not been given any names of other people working on it. It seemed he was to be alone. And the technology…it was unthinkable. He was asked to reverse engineer an orbital weapons system based on the schematics he had been given. At first, it seemed impossible. He could theorize how to make it work, but it was nothing more than a mental exercise. And then it stopped being theoretical. He didn't have all the answers yet, but he knew in his gut that he could make that system work. And it was terrifying.

The destructive capabilities of the weapon were truly awesome. He could take out a whole city with just one of the cannons and each was designed to work in conjunction with many, many more. As he stared the results of his tests, eyes flicking from his computer screen to the papers he had been sent when he accepted the project, he noticed something that he had not seen before. At the bottom of the schematics, written very lightly, was something that did not look like technical writing. He recognized the symbols. He couldn't read them, but he knew he had seen them before. That was when he knew that he was in serious trouble. He had to quit the project. Whatever the cost, he could not make this weapon. When Alex went to work that day, he left a copy of his notes inhis safe. He had no trouble hiding his distress from Ella. She already accepted that his mood would be a little "off" when he was doing weapons work. At his office, he pulled everything he had been working on together. He would look over some of it later, after he had extricated himself from this mess. When he left that night, he thought he might be safe. The next thing he knew, he was waking up here. He'd been too late.

Time went by. Alex had no idea how long he had stayed in that room. A day? Two days? The lights never dimmed. Food appeared periodically through a slot in the door. He slept a little. His panic and fear finally burned out leaving only a numb sense of resignation. Only the increasing roughness on his face gave him any sense of the passage of time.

Now, he rolled his head over and looked at the picture he was touching. He prayed to a god he did not believe in to protect his wife and child. He was not sure if he would ever see Ella again. Maybe it was better this way, he thought, drifting off to sleep.

Despite his fatigue, every one of Alex's senses went on alert when he heard the doorknob turn. He stood up; needing to face whatever was coming on his feet. He did not know what to say when a dead man walked in the door.

"Hello, Alex," the dead man smiled at him warmly. "Oh, pardon me, it's Dr. Portmanoy, isn't it? Professor of astrophysics? It is so nice to be working with you again."

Alex found his voice. "Dr. Gillson?" Even as Alex spoke to his former mentor, he could not believe it. The short, kindly looking man was supposed to have died years ago. Alex remembered the newspaper article and the strong sense of relief. The world was a safer place without Dr. Gillson in it.

"Yes, Alex, it's me. Oh, come on. You didn't believe the reports about the car accident, did you?" The older man laughed, genuinely delighted. "That was just…well, let's just say that it was time for me to…move on. There have always been people whoagreed with my more controversial ideas. They helped me disappear. Come, sit with me."

Alex eyed the two men who had entered with Dr. Gillson. Both were holding guns that were not quite pointing at him. Seeing no option, he sat down across from the man who had given him more nightmares than anything else in his life. "So, you found others who believe that it is okay to murder almost two dozen people in the name of 'research'?'"

"Dr. Portmanoy, I murdered no one. If memory serves me at all, I seem to remember it was you who gave the final injections."

Alex paled. "I did not know what I was doing," he replied, softly.

"Of course you didn't," the older doctor placated him. "Alex, that was years ago. So much has changed." He reached for the photo of Ella leaving her doctor's office. "You've gotten married. And I hear there is a child on the way." The gray haired man smiled proudly at his former student."She's pretty, Alex. I am sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to her."

"What do you mean?"

Dr. Gillson looked at his former student. "Alex, there are threats in this world that you know nothing about. But you can help us. We need you. I need you to work with me again."

"What!" Alex had to have heard that wrong.

"Think about this. You were an excellent medical researcher. Your work in theoretical astrophysics shows genius potential. You just need some encouragement and guidance and challenges. You have potential to help save the world. Not just be another professor growing old as his students do nothing but sleep through lectures."

"You are telling me what the world needs? You? You're a murderer."

"I have murdered no one."

"Oh, that's right. You had me do it for you."

The two doctors faced each other across the table. Dr. Gillson seemed saddened by Alex's words. "Alex – Dr. Portmanoy, you have to understand. You are not a student anymore. You are not a child. You are a man. And you are about to become a father. Wouldn't you do anything to assure your child's safety?" When Alex remained silent, Dr. Gillson plowed on. "That's all I was doing. I was trying to cure a disease that has killed millions of people."

"So was it worth it?" Alex asked, raw anger seeping out of him. "Did we cure anything? Were those twenty dead bodies the price of success?"

"I will regret their loss everyday. However, had we succeeded, we would have stood next to Jonas Salk inmedical history."

"Instead we get to stand next to Mengele in Hell."

Dr. Gillson's cheery blue eyes went flat. "Your attitude is unwarrented. There is something you need to know, Dr. Portmanoy. You've been working for me for the last two years. The weapons contracts, the money, it came from me. I thought it was time to take our relationship out of the shadows. We have been watching you. I know that you spotted the clues. I left them for you. You finally made the connection between this weapon and me. But, I think you had decided to back out of this job. I can't have that. Not now. You owe me. If it hadn't been for you, no one would have known about the people who died. All I am asking for now is that you do this one thing for me and we are even. Is that too much to ask? After everything I have done for you?"

"After all – What have you done for me? All you gave me was two years of my life that I can't talk about! I had to leave medicine because I couldn't even forgive myself for what I did. All you ever did for me was turn me into your personal assassin!"

The older man's hand lashed out and gave Alex a stinging backhand. When Alex moved to jump to his feet, the guard behind him shoved his face onto the table and held it down. "Grow up, Alex. Patients die all the time," Dr. Gillson spit at him.

Alex managed to turn his head toward the other doctor. "Not twenty patients die in the same day. I killed them. You made me kill them all to hide your failure!"

The older man stood and looked down on Alex in disgust. "Let him go," he said to the guards. They released the pressure and Alex got to his feet. "You know, there were others who wanted to do this differently. We have been watching your wife as well as you. We even tried to bring her here, but it didn't work out. However, I need what you know. I know that you can build that weapon. Whether or not you want to is of no interest to me at this point." Dr. Gillson rapped on the door sharply. Two men opened the door and pushed in a blanket-covered box. "The experiments that we were doing…I was never allowed to tell you what we were using for the cure. Now I can."

He pulled the blanket away from some sort of aquarium. Inside it, was a writhing snake-like creature swimming in water. As he watched, the snake turned towards him, baring a fanged mouth that snapped at the glass. Alex jerked away and the two men who had been standing guard grabbed his arms. He struggled against them but they forced him to his knees. When he continued to struggle, one of the men twisted his right arm painfully behind his back. "Dammit! What do you want?" Alex yelled at the gray haired man.

Dr. Gillson was pulling on a pair of long, rough gloves. He removed the cover off of the aquarium. "Alex, I want you to build the weapon. I know you know how. Either you choose to do it, or I will make you do it. The choice is yours."

"No. The weapon won't work. It's too advanced. Nobody could make it work!"

"Lying is pointless. You will tell me."

"This is pointless. Kill me if you want, but I can't do what you are asking."

Dr. Gillson let out a deep sigh of regret and shook his head. "Such a pity. Killing you is not what I have in mind."

TBC