"General," Doctor Fraiser greeted as Jacob stepped into the isolation room. "Teal'c is beginning to recover some motion." To prove her point, the Jaffa on the gurney moved his fingers. It was little more than a twitch.
"Twenty-one hours," the Tok'ra observed. "More than we ever dreamed of. I'm sorry, Teal'c; I know this must be disconcerting."
He didn't answer. Because he still couldn't talk.
"Sergeant Siler is headed down for the first human trial. None of the SGC blood samples I've worked on have shown any reaction to the substance at all. It would seem that it only affects symbiotes, but I'd like to be sure of that."
"That's great news," Jacob told her. "What about Sam's blood?"
"No reaction."
"So former hosts seem to be immune," he mused.
The doctor shook her head. "Not necessarily. Your blood didn't react, either. Maybe it's that she's no longer a host, but maybe the determining factor as to whether someone is affected or not is genetic somehow."
"Reporting as ordered, ma'am." Sergeant Siler ducked his head into the room.
"I hope it wasn't an order," Janet answered. "I was told you volunteered for this."
"Yes, ma'am. Poor phrasing."
She nodded. "For safety's sake, Sergeant, lie down for me. And please, stay there." The last thing she needed was to end up sprawled on the floor with another patient. Her knee hurt. And her hip. And her elbow.
"Yes, ma'am." Always the good guinea pig, the Sergeant settled onto the next gurney in line.
And Jacob took the third.
"What are you doing?" Janet asked.
"I think it's worth confirming your findings, Doctor," the Tok'ra told her. "Blood directly infected with the substance shows no change. But what if it's applied topically, as we've done to Teal'c? If my blood shows no reaction but a topical dose does, then the blood testing is, at best, unreliable."
The point was logical, and there was no reason to believe the drug would hurt him any more than it had Teal'c or than it would Siler. In fact, there was no reason to believe it would affect him at all, with the blood tests she'd done. Still, it made her uncomfortable. If something happened, she'd have to explain to her best friend that she'd endangered the other woman's last remaining parent.
Siler recoiled at the smell as the doctor opened the vial, and she couldn't blame him. Carefully, she applied the same amount to his skin that she had to Teal'c.
She couldn't bring herself to do that to Jacob.
But she handed him the vial.
