Chapter 7 – Along Came a Spider
"What the hell is that?"
Jack turned toward the sound of the voice coming from the open doorway to Sam's lab. "Ferritti. About time you guys showed up." Quirking his lips into a grin, he took in the look of repulsion on the other man's face. "What's the matter? Never seen a spider before?"
"Not one the size of a soccer ball," came the stunned reply.
Jack looked back down at the specimen in question. "Yeah. That does throw one off a bit, doesn't it?"
"Is it dead?" asked Major Collins, his P-90 steadily aimed at the still form on the ground.
Turning once more to face Ferretti and his team, Jack became serious. "Just stunned. And we're not sure if this is the only one, so here's the plan. You two," he pointed to Collins and Captain Lindley, "Are going to guard the door. Nothing comes in or out." Jack looked pointedly back at Felger, who retreated a step. "The rest of us fan out and cover the room top to bottom. You see anything with eight legs, shoot it."
"Uh Jack?" Ferritti asked with a questioning brow raised. "Any reason we don't just lock the door?"
Jack turned to Carter, waving her on to give the explanation. "The…spider," she said with a grimace, "Appears to have been feeding off of any electrical current it could find. As such, it's disabled the opening mechanism of the door. If we close it, it might take a while to get it open again."
"And we don't really wanted to be locked in if there are anymore of those things in here and we can't annihilate them," Jack added with a nod toward the still creature on the floor.
"Gotcha," Ferritti agreed before turning to his men. "You heard the Colonel's orders. Let's get moving."
"Felger!" Jack yelled to the man who still stood in the hallway. "Call up to General Hammond and let him know what's going on. And request a hazmat team." Jack looked back at the mess that was Carter's lab. "We're going to need one."
Felger stood tall and alert, eager to be of assistance. "Yes, Sir, Colonel O'Neill! I'm on it!" He threw the man a salute before he turned and practically ran to the nearest telephone.
Ferritti cocked his head at the departing scientist. "He always that eager?"
Jack shook his head and rolled his eyes. "You have no idea."
The four members of SG-1 and two from SG-3 fanned out and began to slowly make their way through Sam's lab. They were careful not to disturb the webbing, fearful of any unknown chemicals that could be released into the air, not to mention the possibility of having another giant spider land on their heads.
Sam was searching behind her desk, dismay written all over her face at the state it was in, when Daniel called quietly to her from the area by her work bench. "I think I know where the spider came from, Sam." Sam looked up quickly at his words, her eyes lighting on the device on the table that Daniel was studying. As he went to touch the rectangular box, both Sam and Jack shouted out, "Don't touch it!" Daniel looked up sharply and pulled his hand back, a frown of annoyance crossing his face. "I wasn't going to touch it. I was just going to…examine it a bit closer. Without touching," he added when Jack frowned fiercely at him.
Sam made her way to his side and stood looking down at the innocuous appearing box. The top of the box, which Sam had spent countless hours trying to open to no avail, was now gaping wide. A faint, greenish light was glowing from the back, where one of Sam's tools lay cock-eyed against an exposed crystal. Quickly deducting what had happened, Sam pulled her large table top magnifying glass close to her and bent over it, peering at the back of the box. "Wow. This is amazing! I've never seen a crystal so small before. I wonder what kind of energy output it generates," she talked quietly to herself, forgetting for a moment Daniel's close presence. Jack rolled his eyes at Ferritti, who had been staring at Sam, amazed at how quickly she had transformed from Soldier Sam to Scientist Sam.
"Is this the box you were studying when I came in last night, Sam?" Daniel asked as he leaned over her shoulder to get a closer look.
Sam startled a bit at the closeness before answering. "Oh. Yeah. The one from P5X-996," she replied absently. "This has to be what triggered the box to open," she pointed to the tool that lay against the back of the box – an electronic digital caliper that she had designed herself. "It must have rolled when I left the lab and nudged the back of the box. It was purely accidental," she mumbled to herself, shaking her head in disbelief as she continued to examine the box.
"That's all well and good, Carter," Jack replied from the other side of the table. "But how in the hell did a spider that big," he pointed to the floor behind him, "Come out of a box that small? And more importantly, are there any more where it came from?"
"I don't know, Sir," Sam replied, answering both questions at once. Taking the magnifying glass, Sam adjusted it so that it was looking directly into the dark, open box. Jack gave a cursory look around the lab before he stepped closer to the bench, his Zat at the ready should anything pop out at his 2IC.
Sam leaned closer and peered through the glass at the interior of the box. She frowned as she tried to make out the indistinct object in the far corner of it. The lights in the lab weren't bright enough for her to make out the vague object. "Daniel, hand me a flashlight, will you?"
"Uh, is that such a good idea, Carter?" Jack asked with wary trepidation. He had visions of another spider leaping out upon being faced with the bright beam of the flashlight.
Sam looked up, sparing him a cursory glance. "I need to see if this is where it came from, Colonel; and if there's anything else in here." She gave Daniel a small smile of thanks as he handed her a flashlight, then Sam turned it on and peered closer. Her eyes widened at what she discovered inside the alien device and Jack stepped even closer in response. "Well, it looks like the spider definitely came from in here. There's an egg sac in the corner." Daniel peered closer, nodding in agreement as he took in the fist sized bundle of webbing stuck in the corner of the box.
"Uh, I'm no expert on Spiders," Ferritti claimed from a corner of the room, "But don't spiders lay like, hundreds of eggs in an egg sac?"
Sam and Daniel looked at each other, then over toward Ferritti before they looked once more into the open box. Jack shuddered and mumbled, "Great, just what we need. Another bug infestation."
"Uh, Sam? Is that something moving in there?" Daniel pointed to a dark spot on the outer edge of the egg sac. It was no larger than a dime, but both Sam and Daniel could see that it definitely was a spider.
"Oh boy," Sam stated as she stepped back. Jack trained his Zat on the open box and walked around the table so that he was standing on the same side as Sam and Daniel. He waited with bated breath for another spider to appear. Teal'c stopped his search of the far corner of the lab to come and stand with his team. "Wait, Sir," Sam called out, holding up her hand for him to freeze. He raised an eyebrow at her but waited. "If we can catch it without stunning it, we might be able to study it to see how it they grow so fast. I think it has something to do with feeding off the electrical energy, based on where it's left webs." She cocked her head to the side. "I'm not sure if a spider this small could survive being stunned by a Zat. This could be really important, Sir," she implored when he shot her a look of doubt.
Jack sighed, but didn't lower his weapon. "And what do you propose we catch it with, Carter? You happen to have a butterfly net lying around somewhere?"
Sam looked around for something suitable. Spying a small can of coffee on the shelf behind her, she quickly snatched it up and dumped the remaining coffee into the garbage can, ignoring Daniel's sound of protest at her actions. She returned to the table, where not only Jack but Teal'c as well stood watching the proceedings closely. Ferritti and Johnson continued their perusal of the lab, one eye warily returning to the long table every few seconds. Although there had been no other signs of large spiders in the lab, the thought of hundreds of them in the egg sac caused all the men to stay alert with weapons at the ready.
Sam held up the can and, with a grin at Jack, turned her attention back to the box. Looking at Daniel, she gave him directions, "Ok Daniel. Very carefully, I want you to move the caliper away from the back of the device. That's it," she affirmed when he did so very slowly and carefully. Keeping her eye on the small spider within, she lowered her voice. "Now, gently grasp the end and start to lift the box up. We'll try and tip it into the can."
"And then what?" Jack asked from next to her other shoulder, where he had moved once Daniel touched the box. "See if it likes coffee as much as Daniel?" Even though the voice was full of sarcasm, Jack kept it just above a whisper.
"Not quite, Sir," Sam gave a brief smile but didn't turn her concentration from the operation going on in front of her. "We bring it up to Dr. Jordan's lab and let the people who are experts in entomology have a look at it. Placing it in a more secure container, of course," she added with a wry grin.
Jack gave her a curious look. "Isn't entomology the study of insects? As Teal'c clearly stated Carter, spiders are not insects."
Sam's head swung up to look at him in surprise. She frowned for a moment before stating, "Be that as it may, I'm sure they know more about spiders than I do, Sir." Jack shrugged his shoulders absently. He really didn't think anyone knew more than Carter about anything, but he let Sam return to her task without voicing the thought.
Tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth, Sam held the empty can to the corner of the device, then gave Daniel a nod. As Daniel lifted and tipped the box slightly, Sam reached in with the intent of very gently ushering the egg sac, spider and all, into the can and securing it with the lid.
Well, as Jack so often reminded her, the road to hell was paved with good intentions. The tiny spider, not realizing that the human woman before him was merely trying to remove him from one container to another, reacted instinctively. Feeling the abrupt movement under his eight legs, he ran. Unfortunately for Sam, he ran right up the hand that was providing a handy ramp. Up the long, slender fingers to the white gauze covering her left hand and then, following a loud cry the likes of which the small creature had never heard before, it tucked itself under the green khaki of a long sleeved shirt and scuttled it's way up an arm covered in soft blond hairs.
The minute the spider began its trek up her hand, Sam had let out a startled squeak and draw her hand back quickly. Unfortunately, this had only proved in scaring the spider even more. And when it made its way up to her hand, Sam's second screech was much louder than the first. Ever mindful of the 7 men in the room with her, Sam really didn't want to put on a display of hysterical arachnophobia, for truly, she was not afraid of bugs or spiders. But when that alien, potentially dangerous spider began to crawl up her arm, she really didn't give a damn what they might think of her; she just acted on instinct.
Sam backed away from the table and started to frantically try and shrug herself out of her jacket, her voice rising in panic as she was unable to do so. "Oh my God, get it off me! It's crawling up my arm! Someone get it off!" Daniel and Jack were by her side in an instant. Daniel's eyes were full of concern as he grabbed the sleeve of her jacket and tried to pull it down.
"It's all right, Sam. We'll get it," he tried to reassure her. But Sam wasn't cooperating all that well. She continued to flail her arms around, her skin crawling with every movement the spider made in its progress up her arm.
Jack had been startled by Sam's first screech and deeply unsettled by the second. He couldn't ever recall hearing or seeing his 2IC act like this in his life. Seeing Daniel's helpless attempts to help, he stepped to her other side and grabbed hold of her left arm by her shoulder, stilling her movement. "Settle down, Carter! We can't help you with all your moving around." He stepped behind her and put both hands on her shoulders. "Daniel, you pull Carter's sleeve down while I take her jacket off from here. T, get that coffee can ready." Teal'c did as instructed, grabbing the can with one hand while he kept his Zat ready with the other. Jack nodded at Daniel and together, they began to help Sam get out of her jacket. Ferritti and Johnson stood by, ready to help when needed.
The jacket had only been slipped halfway down Sam's arms when she cried out, "Oh God!" Jack and Daniel froze; Sam's jacket held tightly between the two men as a look of dread passed over their faces.
Senses on high alert, Jack replied sharply, "What is it, Carter?"
"It…it went under the sleeve of my t-shirt, Sir." She moaned helplessly and leaned back against him. "I think it just went down my bra," she finished in a whisper of panic and embarrassment.
Jack's eyes widened and he looked in turn to Daniel, then Teal'c. Both men shook their heads at him and Daniel even took a step back, dropping his end of Sam's jacket. There was no way either man was going to attempt removal of the spider now. Jack turned to look back at Ferritti, who was wearing such a look of disbelief that, in normal circumstances, would have had Jack laughing out loud. When he caught Jack's gaze, Ferritti held up his hands and said, "No way, O'Neill."
He turned back to Daniel and frowned. "Call Janet. Get her down here immediately," Jack ordered as his hands too let go of Sam's jacket and moved to her cup her shoulders. Daniel turned and did as Jack commanded, racing from the room to find a phone not covered in spider webs. Jack squeezed Sam's shoulders firmly and looked down at the top of her head. Taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart, he said, "Carter, can you…reach in and… grab it?" His face flushed as he said the words, his mind automatically conjuring up images of what might lie beneath her t-shirt…aside from the spider, that is.
Sam's eyes were squeezed shut against the sensations of the spider moving against her chest. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her own speeding heart. She felt a bit more composed with Jack standing behind her and allowing her to lean against him, but now was not the time to give that too much thought. "I think so, Sir," she replied, her voice a breathless whisper.
Jack squeezed her shoulders again in support, then stated quietly, "OK. Just reach in and grab it…the spider," he emphasized after he heard an intake of breath from behind him. He was so going to kill Ferritti later. "Drop it into the can as soon as you're clear." Jack nodded to Teal'c, who stepped closer once more, can held at the ready.
Sam nodded her head against his chest, acknowledging his order, took a deep breath, and reached into her shirt with a shaking hand. Jack looked away, not wanting to be caught staring down her shirt, even if he did have a good excuse for it! Just as Sam was about to grab the eight legged interloper, she felt a sharp prick against her skin that quickly turned into a burning sensation. "Oh shit," she whispered in resignation.
"What?" Jack shot out, his gaze automatically returning to the top of her head and subsequently, the hand down her shirt.
"I think it just bit me," her voice dropped even lower.
Jack's eyes met Teal'c's, both men showing not only their true fear for Sam, but also their alarm as to the repercussions to the whole base should they not contain the spider. That it just bit their team mate added a whole other dimension to the problem. The two men shared a long look while Jack held onto Sam and his eyes betrayed him at what he knew he must do. Teal'c nodded solemnly, his eyes never leaving O'Neills.
Closing his eyes briefly, Jack whispered into Sam's hair, "I'm really sorry, Carter." Then he released his hold on her and stepped back. Before she could turn around and question him, Jack aimed his Zat at her and fired quickly, then dropped his weapon and caught her before she hit the ground.
I really didn't intend to put Sam through more but, upon a review by Feb04, the muse took off in another direction! But don't worry, the day is almost over...things have to start looking up soon! One more chapter to go. Unfortunately, I will be out of town for several days, then will be starting back at school for workshops. But I promise to try and have the last bit out within the next week. Thanks so much for reading...lots of hits and many super reviews, which really make my day!