Part Seven: Visions
Screaming. Someone was screaming. Where? The screaming would not stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. More screaming. Lights. More screaming. She was screaming. I am screaming. No one comes. Why? Screaming, screaming, screaming. Stop it! Someone heard. Someone is there. Who? I am screaming. Where am I? A face came close, but who was it? Can't move. Must move. My mother? What? She's dead. Saying something. I am screaming. Can't stop. She is going away. Another face keeps moving to my left. I have to catch up to see, a man. Around and around, I must move in a circle. A silver-haired man, who is it? Jack? Jack? Jack? Jack? I can't stop calling for him. Make me stop.
"I've got you, babe. Hold on to me. Give it to me."
"No. No. No. No."
"Hold on to me baby. I'm here."
"Jack?"
"It's me baby."
"Jack?"
"Tell me where it is?"
"Jack?"
"C'mon, baby, where is it? And we can go home."
"Home?"
"I have chocolate."
"Jack?"
"Here I am. But I have to leave."
"No, don't go, don't go."
"I have to go."
"No! Stay!"
"I am going."
"Jack?"
"Give it to me. I can't stay."
"Make love to me. Make love to me."
"I want someone else."
"Who?"
"Someone else. I love someone else. You know."
"Jack?"
"We can try again."
"Who?"
"You have more time."
"More time? Don't leave me, Jack?"
Hosteen Begay knew the ways of Datura and the witches who used it. Carefully he applied the "Flying Ointment" to the belagana woman, Ellie, according to the men who brought her. The ointment was traditional in shamanism and witchcraft. Her delirium could last for weeks, if he was careful. An overdose would mean death. Datura has been used by sorcerers to cause illness or death or to cast a spell of love through manipulation of the spirit world. A shaman who has the power to cure implicitly also has the power to kill. The fine line mediating this power is intent. Far from being limited to shamans and sorcerers, when combined with fasting, the effects achieve a subliminal state of hyper-suggestibility crucial for reprogramming.
The Zuni Indians who also live in New Mexico believe that Datura or Thornapple should be used only by the rain-priests when they appeal to the Ancestors to bring rain. Their followers will sometimes make a powder from the root and sprinkle it in their eyes to communicate with the feathered ones at night. In other words, the sacred plant gives realistic hallucinations that last for days. If one ingests the plant, one does not stop dreaming even when awake. Afterwards, the person sleeps a deep sleep with visionary dreams. Without careful preparation, the sleeper may not awaken. Ellie Thorsdaughter was having a helluva nightmare. And she couldn't wake up.
"Right. Yes, sir, that's what he told me. And he's asking that we don't search the house. Yes, sir, I know that but, they've been there for years now. He's offered to show me everything." Pause. "He's just afraid that someone else will," Jack paused and frowned. "He says the only thing there of any interest is her computer console and its locked. The rest is ordinary Earth stuff. Oh, and some papers related to her research. Yes, sir, just things anyone could get. Here he is, sir." Jack hit mute and reminded Dr. Svenson that this was General Hammond the head of the SGC.
"Greetings, General Hammond." Lars Svenson listened carefully to the man on the other end. "I realize. My apologies are not sufficient I know. But then, neither are the N.I.D.'s for theft either."
Jack reacted with surprise. Ok, this guy could push back. Interesting. He must have significant assets here to take that attitude. I wonder what these peopleare really doing here.
"Yes, Narim could have vouched for us. It's unfortunate what happened to the Tollan. But we can provide additional proof of our good relations with them. No, we don't interact with the Tok'ra. We know of them, but we are not acquainted." Lars listened for a few minutes. "We would really appreciate it if you would consider the house an embassy and refrain from ransacking it. Colonel O'Neill has been inside many times. He can tell you it's a typical American home. Uh huh. Because we live like the natives we study. Yeah, just like Margaret Mead did in Samoa. And you will not be able to access the computer. However, if you refrain, we could discuss letting Major Carter peruse its contents."
More time passed, Jack was annoyed. Of course there would be a search.
"Because legally, it is our property and such a search would be a violation of our rights. We have obeyed all your laws and have not given cause for such a demonstration of force." Lars grunted. "Does the rule of law extend to off world peoples or only to a select few of your world?" Lars grunted his 'uh huhs' and continued. "And this is precisely why we did not come to you in the first place. We knew how you would treat us. Maybe it is your own policies and procedures, which need review not ours. If you had an appropriate system for granting visas, we would not be 'illegal aliens,' sir." Lars handed off the phone to Jack in disgust.
"Yes, sir. Probably booby-trapped. At least keep it under surveillance, and I'll keep my eyes on him." Jack hung up. "You got what you want for forty-eight hours. Then we go in."
"What about Ellie?"
"My team is on its way, here. The N.I.D. is going to have to get involved because we don't have jurisdiction. But we can look around. General Hammond is making the necessary arrangements." Jack eyed the man who was clearly worried. "You are right about the visa problem. We should talk about setting something up. I've been to a place where we landed in the pokey pretty much for just showing up. So, lunch?"
Later that afternoon, Lt. Charley Bistie of the Crownpoint Navajo Police substation sorted through three filing cabinets for folders marked, "Witchcraft" and sorted out the ones identified as "Wolf" from those labeled "Datura" and "Frenzy." Frenzy cases involved mental illness. Wolf incidents involved rituals. But Datura cases involved narcotics and had the highest priority. Lt. Bistie had a map on the wall with little pins in it marking the locations of various incidents. More than a few were stuck on the Checkerboard area of the Reservation. A large portion of Northwest New Mexico state is owned by four different sovereign tribes; the Navajo, Pueblo Zuni, Pueblo Acoma, and Pueblo Laguna. But the lands are not contiguous. Hence the name "Checkerboard." The Crownpoint substation was closest to Albuquerque and close enough to Gallup, where the white tourist went missing. Lt. Bistie sighed. Just what he needed, a missing belagana woman and a bunch of Navajo witches running around at the same time.
Two tall men stood waiting at the entrance to the Lieutenant's office. One was dressed military style. The other was so pale he could get lost in the snow. Bistie grunted to them to enter. Clearly, the military one was the Colonel that Window Rock headquarters called to alert him was coming. Lt. Bistie indicated two chairs and sank down into one himself. The pair sat waiting to be addressed. Well, maybe they have some manners, thought Bistie. It is impolite to address an elder of the clan without first being addressed. Someone must have warned them. Bistie wasn't just a policeman but a clan elder.
"Lt. Bistie, and you are?"
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, Air Force." Jack stuck out his hand to the officer. Bistie took it. Firm hand. Good sign. "And this is Dr. Lars Svenson, a friend of the lady who is missing." Dr. Svenson also offered his hand. That ritual over, the policeman cut to the chase.
"So tell me why you think she is on Navajo land?"
"We were followed out there."
"Followed, as in?"
"Followed when no one should have known where we were and then showed up for no apparent reason, followed."
"This have something to do with your being arrested on Sunday morning?"
"Probably before. We were traveling and made an unexpected stop in Kayenta for the night. The next morning, some men who knew about Ellie, that's her name, Dr. Ellie Thorsdaughter, intervened in a misunderstanding in the parking lot at the Holiday Inn. What they were doing at the Holiday Inn we don't know. Too much of a coincidence. They got arrested too. Except for Ellie, we were all sent to the jail in Window Rock and processed out the same day. Then we saw one of them in the Navajo Inn dining room where we had dinner. The man greeted us. Ellie seemed to know about him and was uncomfortable. Afraid actually, even though he was polite. That's all I have."
Lt. Bistie nodded and considered the statement for a while. "Ok, but how do you connect that to a woman missing from the train station in Gallup?"
"I figure they overheard our plans to go to Gallup and for Ellie to catch the train to Las Vegas. He was seated not too far from our table and could have been in earshot before being seated. Since they obviously knew where we would be in Kayenta, they had to be interested in finding us and made the effort to get there. If you want my opinion, that's the best lead."
"Why didn't you get on the train with her?"
"I had to make an early morning meeting at Nellis AF Base. I caught a plane sent from Kirtland AF Base. Ellie refuses to fly. That's why I put her on the train and left my car at the Gallup airport."
"Did you see her get on?"
"I thought I did. But when I turned around she was gone. I just assumed she had gotten on and moved on to her car." Jack frowned, kicking himself.
"These followers, they were Indians?"
"No, sir. Ellie said they were a bunch out of New York."
"So how do you figure she's still on the Reservation?"
"Because, they could have taken her anytime at home in Colorado Springs. Why follow us out to Kayenta? Why make a point of intervening in a parking lot altercation? Or maybe they staged it themselves. I suspect that altercation was arranged. One of the men tried to haul her off, but she fought them and other people showed up. I thought it was just a Saturday night party group making trouble. They were Indians. But those New York fellas just happened by at the most convenient moment. And the police blew their plans by arresting all of us."
"That's some supposing, Colonel."
"Lieutenant, I suspect that another altercation in Cortez, Saturday night was arranged. We got arrested there too. But Ellie and I did not get separated there. We were separated after the Kayenta incident. Somehow my ID was left behind in the Cortez police station and she went back for it. I don't know why but I am sure it was lifted from my pocket in the station. I remember putting it away. But on Sunday, the people on her trail were locked up with me. I just didn't know it at the time. Once they knew she was going separately by train, they probably made a few phone calls and snatched her on the platform in Gallup."
So, she's the colonel's woman. But that doesn't explain all the heat applied from Washington. There's something else involved here.
"What's your relationship, Dr. Svenson?"
"She's a colleague and a friend. We've known each other since college." Lars handed over a picture of Ellie.
"Are you filing a missing persons report?"
"We did that. We are hoping you could ask around for anything unusual. Maybe someone has seen her, or even, knows something."
Jack didn't even know where to begin with this one. The Navajo Reservation is as big as Belgium plus the Netherlands. It would take someone with extensive knowledge of the area to even come close to a lead. And there was a population of over 250,000 people living there all spread out over 25,000 square miles. In comparison, England has 93,000 square miles while Austria has 32,000 square miles. The Navajo Reservation is a mountainous, dry, canyon riddled land with countless areas for hiding something or someone. The only way to find her would be with a lot of local talent helping.
"So why are they after her?" Both men in front of him looked uncomfortable.
The colonel took the lead. Interesting. They are hiding something. But what is the connection between these two men? They are not friends. And the colonel seems annoyed with the other man. No, that's not it. The colonel doesn't trust the other man. She's the colonel's woman. Is it jealousy?
"They want something she knows." Jack stopped. "I'm sorry. That's all I can tell you."
"Classified?" No response. Interesting. "What is her profession?"
"Anthropologist."
"I find it hard to believe someone wants to kidnap an anthropologist for something she knows, unless..." the lieutenant paused significantly. "Unless she is involved in the illegal trade of Indian artifacts." Lt. Bistie scrutinized the tall pale one, the one who said he is a colleague. "I should warn you that the removal of any ancient objects from Indian lands is a federal offense."
"Yes, sir. We know. Ellie wouldn't be involved in anything like that, would she Dr. Svenson?"
I wonder what these folks had found out there in the desert. It wouldn't be the first time something had been left on Earth and others came to retrieve it. I'll have to ask Daniel if there could be something.
"No, of course not. We study people." Lars swallowed hard.
Could the Goa'uld think Ellie had found something like an object? No, it was the other matter. But why go after her in this remote wilderness? There had to be some connection.
"Ok, leave me your information. We'll be in touch."
"No, sir. We must insist that we come along."
"It's irregular."
"It's a matter of National Security."
