Chapter 16

Fort Roosevelt- 28 Hours Into Lockdown

Agent Marcus turned when he heard the knock at the door. "Come in." he called, and was surprised to see two of the medical personnel.

"What is it?" he asked, a pit forming in his stomach. Given how busy everyone was, two doctors leaving the bay meant something was up.

"Agent Marcus, we felt it best to inform you personally." One of the doctors said before taking a breath. "One of the pouches is empty. One that shouldn't be."

Samuel paled. "You're sure?"

"Positive. The pouch that the aliens live in has several small organic nodes that appear to be locations they latch onto while inside. Upon death so far, it seems the aliens clamp down on these nodes. It's been helpful for us since it means that none of the alien cadavers have slid out. The fact that one pouch is empty can only mean one thing; one of our men could have been compromised." The doctor finished as he let the final sentence hang in the air

"Shit" Sam muttered as looked at the table where he'd been working at, various files were scattered about.

Speaking up, the doctor continued: "I've already had my colleagues search the lab area, and I recommend that we sweep the base, in case it's still on its own."

"What are the odds that it is?" he asked, voice perking up slightly

"In all honestly, its highly unlikely, these creatures appear to be parasitic in nature. The presence of fins and gill-like structures indicate that their natural habitat is probably aquatic. Unless in the presence of a native habitat, it's likely there's only one reason one of these things would leave its host, and that-"

"-Would be to enter a new host. Christ."

"I'm sorry sir,but that's likely what's happened here. We'll need to get on this as quickly as we can."

Samuel shuddered. "I'll get security teams right on it, just to be sure its not on its own. In the meantime, doctors, we need to start searching our personnel, starting with the medics and Alpha Squad."

"We already begun, Agent. We searched each other first, and haven't left each other's sight since, either. All medical personnel in the lab have been checked, and paired off, with strict instructions to keep a close eye on each other to minimize the risk of post-inspection infestation."

"Let me guess: judging by the reports, the entry point should take the form of a recently-healed scar on the neck, right?"

"Yes, sir."

Samuel stood up and turned around. "Take a look."

"Sir?"

"Check me first. Then we'll proceed."

"Sir, with all due respect, it's about more than just the entry wound. Given the intelligence of these parasites and their ability to enter to body and rapidly assume control of the individual, we have to account for the possibility that they can try and enter the body in places that wouldn't leave an obvious mark."

"Such as?"

"Well, the mandibles of the creature are highly efficient at slicing away at flesh in order to move about the body. It could enter anywhere really to try and burrow through, though the neck is likely prefered since it offers direct access to the brain and spine. Entering elsewhere could potentially cause internal wounds as the creature tunnels through, so any entrance through the lower body will likely be impossible or difficult. Entrance through the torso or head are the most probable. Entering through an orifice could very well allow the parasite access to the body without leaving a mark."

Sam wined at the thought of one of those things forcing his mouth open. "So what are our options then"

"We'll, we've been working out a test, a twofold method really. First we'll take a sample of your blood and run it under the electron microscope, the aliens seem to leave a trace of some unknown element in people's bodies. While we scan that we'll run you under the X-ray to see if theres anything actually in you."

Turning, Sam signed "Okay, how long will that take?"

"Well the blood work should only take a few minutes, we just need to see if there's any of this unknown element in your blood. After that, the X-Ray image takes about an hour to develop."

"An hour an image? Doctor you are aware of how many people are on this base right? An hour a person would take us several days to actually clear everyone!"

"Fortunately, we do have a moderately sized dark room, so we can process several X-Rays at once, we're already developing the first images for the medical personnel, we should be getting the results back for that soon, but so far, no one came back positive for the unknown element with the blood work. That's our real canary in the coal mine, the X-Rays are to be absolutely sure."

"Okay, check me with your next batch of medical personnel, then finish making sure everyone on your teams is safe. After that, check the security details, we've got to make sure no one outside the cells has been compromised."

Several minutes later, Sam was lead down to the makeshift medical wing. Stripping down, he quickly donned a medical garb. He twinged as the medics stuck a large needle in his arm and took a sample of blood. Still smarting, he layed down on a gurney and let the X-Ray image him, feeling a slight tingle as the invisible rays pierced his body. Standing up, he changed out as he waited for his results.

"Well, good news, your blood work came back clean sir, once we get these X-Rays, we'll be able to clear you."

The next hour was painful as Sam waited in a small holding room to the side. He heard the doors to the medical wing open several times and several more doctors and medics began their examinations. After about an hour a doctor poked his head in and told him his results came back negative. Relived to be cleared, he moved into the command center, issuing quiet orders to begin searching the facility while at the same time ordering a team of security guards to escort the cleared medics to the holding facility to begin searching the personnel once they had been confirmed to be human.

"Once two people have been cleared, pair them off, re-arm them, and put them to work on security patrols." he instructed. The men looked relieved, the personnel who'd been at Camp Roosevelt when the away teams returned had been pulling double shifts to cover the extra guard duty.

Fort Roosevelt-30 Hours into Lockdown

Ernest and Catherine had made their rounds around the warehouse, seeing who sided or sympathized with Cpl. Douglas and who didn't. They reported to Hammond that the outlook had shifted since the day before; apparently, all of them waking up alive had put a damper on Douglas's position. Nearly half the men saw no reason to suspect the negroes above anyone else, a quarter were on the fence between the positions, and only a quarter were firmly sided with Douglas. They did note though that the sentiment seemed to not necessarily have to do with standing prejudice against the negro soldiers, it was more worry and paranoia in the cells regarding the possibility of infestation transferring to a visible scapegoat. Only Douglas and one or two others could honestly be considered significantly prejudiced. It could still get nasty if things heated up though, but if something actually happened, the pair suspected that far fewer people would actually cause a scene. The men may have had issue with the others, but their training and respect for the chain of command kept them in line. After they'd helped with that, the two had returned to their office to examine some of the alien artifacts.

Don and Simmons had quietly discussed these findings for a bit before they turned to a deck of cards Simmons had snuck in. They'd done all they could from their limited position.

"Got any sixes Simmons?" Don asked as he leaned back against the cool corrugated metal. Laying on his back on the cot, Simmons lazily raised a card and flicked it at him. He was about to ask for twos when a call echoed through the warehouse-turned-holding-facility. "All personnel, step away from your cell doors! Form an orderly line against the far wall from the door, and maintain that position until ordered otherwise!"

"What's going on?" Simmons asked standing, his cards spilling on the floor. Across the warehouse the rest of the men were now frantically whispering to each other, likely asking the same question.

"Looks like they're searching us now" he said to Simmons.

Samuel walked into the warehouse and onto the catwalk. "Men, here's the situation." He bellowed, his voice carrying over the empty space "You will be searched for signs of infestation. First a guard will come to your cell and ask you to step out. They'll look at your body for any sign of potential infection. After that, you will be escorted to the medical wing, where a thorough blood work and X-Ray will happen. If you're found to be clean, you will be released and re-armed to help with guard duty, a lot of our boys could use some rest. I apologize sincerely for the inconvenience and trouble this has caused, and as we now know what to look for in an infested person an. . . "

"Someone got snaked!?"

"What the fuck?"

"Why are we sharing cells!?

Several voices began to raise in panic as a low murmur swept over the cells. Everyone had privately been hoping that the quarantine would end up being just a formality. The third sentiment seemed to carry the most weight as soldiers though as some began to shift their gaze to their cell mates.

Raising his voice, Sam spoke over the din, quieting down as many of the voices that he could. "It has been decided to move ahead with getting everyone cleared and back on duty. We'll take several of you first and if its all good, they'll come back to help with guard duty and escort!"

"Well then check the fuckin' blacks first!" Douglas yelled.

"Corporal, stand down!" Don hollered. It was too late, though, as similar shouts from the corporal's sympathizers started rising of the more nervous looking soldiers also joined in the chorus, keeping one eye on their cell partner and the other on the people they could see beyond the bars. Sam had his hands raised, trying to restore order down below.

Suddenly a loud clang pierced the shouting. The voices slowed as another clang echoed, the cell block becoming just murmurs as all eyes fell on the cell where the sound came from. Sergeant Shepard slammed a fist into the thin metal wall of his cell for a third time, the crash and echo bringing the low symphony of noises to a halt. A deathly silence fell over the chamber, unfortunately it also brought the guards' weapons to bear, ready to fire at the sign of trouble.

Walking up to the door of his cell, the Sergeant gripped the bars and looked out at one of the guards, before turning his head up at Samuel. With a calm voice, loud enough for everyone to hear, he called out "Sir, my men and I volunteer to be checked for infestation first!"

"Are you sure, Staff Sergeant?" Hammond asked through the wall. The last thing he wanted was to give Douglas any vindication, that would be poison for morale and future cooperation.

"Positive sir." he said without hesitation

Samuel watched the scene unfold. "Very well, Staff Sergeant." He looked at some of the guards who had filed into the room. "You've been briefed on what to look for." he said. "Take a look at the Staff Sergeant and his men first. From there, we go by seniority."

The four men in the cramped cell moved to the back wall as a squad of soldiers came up to their door, weapons drawn. On the catwalk, several more kept their weapons trained on the group. One by one, Shepherd and his men filed out slowly, removing their shirts to be visually inspected by the soldiers. No fresh wounds or scars were seen, so quickly pulling their shirts on, they were marched out of the door to the next building. They'd have to go through the embarkation room then straight to the isolated medical wing.

. . .

As the men left, it took a deep breath. Was this a bluff? Did they really know what to look for? Or had they discovered its former incubator's empty pouch and were simply trying to flush it out? It followed the order, lining up against the back wall of the cell, within arm's reach of the hidden zat'nik'tel. It had been difficult to conceal, but fortunately, it had been sent back to Earth shortly after the battle, before the symbiote that had taken over the man named Richard Powell had acted, and had managed to conceal the weapon in the same warehouse that now served as their prison. It had been hard to make sure he was in the same cell it had strapped the weapon to underneath the cot, but he'd managed it. And, fortunately, with its cell near the entrance, it could move quickly. It eyed Douglas, thankful that the man had started advocating a racial inclination for infestation. They were less likely to suspect it Sitting down on the cot, it began to wait, the time for inspection would come soon enough. It couldn;t make any movement here in the cell-block, but perhaps when they had to go to inspection, that would be the time to strike if need be. . .

Four hours later.

Alright, next group will be. . .uh oh" Don muttered as he set down the clipboard

"Who is it sir?" Shepard asked standing up straight

"It's Douglas and some of his men. . .Sergeant, if you'd like I'd be more than happy to take care of this one for you."

Nodding the Staff Sergeant looked at his men before he spoke "I appreciate that offer sir, but with all due respect, I'll have to decline"

"Sergeant?"

"Look, you've said it your self, integration of the army, and SGI is going to a reality, Douglas and his men are going to have to get used to this fact, the sooner the better."

"I understand that, but do you really think this is an appropriate time to test that? We're in the middle of a miniature crisis right now Sergeant."

"With respect sir, with all our exploration plans, do you really think this will be the only crisis SGI ever will face?"

The question hung in the air for several long moment until the Sergeant spoke up again "And sir, apart from the outside crossing, we'll be under the cover of other soldiers as well. The only time Douglas and his friends will ever be alone with us is outside, and we have to just manage to cross fifty meters of open ground. Then we're back under the catwalk guns."

Don sighed as he weighed his options, one one hand every part of his mind was telling him that this was a bad idea and would only cause problems, but his own time as a sergeant, back when he was deep in the trenches and barracks with his men told him that sometimes, to get through to a man, a full shock treatment was needed. Weighing his options, he decided to go with his gut.

"Okay Shepard, we'll go with your plan, just be careful."

. . .

"Alright, groups of four lets go!"

Douglas eyed Shepard as he and the soldiers kept their weapons trained

"Couldn't they have someone else do this?" he snarled

"They could, but it's our shift, now get your ass against the wall then file out. The sooner we're done with this the better."

"Don't you raise your voice with me boy!" Douglas exclaimed as he complied and moved against the wall. His eyes narrowed at Douglas as his men unlocked the door. Stepping forward, he ripped off his shirt, held his arms out and began to spin around slowly

"Just get it done" he said as Shepard inspected his body, his voice dripping with disgust.

"He's good" Shepard said after several seconds. "Over there, next!" he said gesturing to the next man in the cell. After he was cleared, they grabbed the next pair from another cell and checked them as well. The two men were already pulled their shirts off as the cell was unlocked. Checking their torsos and finding nothing the group prepared to leave.

. . .

It'd been lucky, it suggested to the other in his cell that they remove their garments before the cell unlocked, to look as though they were speeding the process along, something the other man had been all too eager to do. While he was distracted pulling his shit over his head, he'd reached under the cot and withdrew the zat'nik'tel, sliding it down the back of his pants as he pulled his shirt off as well. After the inspection, as he tucked the shirt back into the pants, he gently slid the device up the sleeve of his shirt. It was a tight fit, but if his plan worked, no one would notice until it was too late. As they filled out, the plan it'd had constructed in its mind was ready. It was not an optimal plan, but in light of the fact that a detection method had possibly been discovered, it had few options left, this would be its desperate bid to gain freedom, slim as though it may be.

Adopting the voice of its host, the creature bowled forward as the group began to move and whispered to Douglas.

"Look at that guy, he's loving every minute of this, being above you." he said gesturing to Shepard with his head

"Tell me about it. That asshole, I'd love to give him whatfor." Douglas muttered as they moved.

"I bet he's just looking for an excuse to beat you down, can claim that it was for base protection or something."

"You think?"

"No talking!" Shepard yelled over his shoulder.

"Positive" it said as they exited the prison and walked across the open ground to the embarkation chamber. The four guards tightened their weapons, they'd be without the overwatch of the balcony above, each eyed their own charge with some extra scrutiny. The one called Douglas and the Goa'uld were the two lead prisoners, the other two were closely behind, guarded by the ones called Monroe and Morehouse. In the front, Shepard and Pete were leading the party.

Looking back, Shepard called out, "Lets move a reasonable pace, no need to make any sudden movements, people." he finished as his eyes fell on Douglas in particular

"The hell's that supposed to mean?!" the man asked stepping forward, raising his voice "You think I'm gonna do anything stupid? You looking for a reason?"

"No. I'm telling you that since we're in a partially exposed area, no one, even my people should make any sudden moves." Shepard explained calmly as they walked

"Bullshit! You were looking right at me when you said that, boy!" Indignation raging in his voice, his pace quickened slightly. If it could, the creature would grin. Putting on his best "concerned" face, he looked back at the two soldiers in the rear and gestured with his head at Douglas. Starting to move towards the man as though he were going to try and slow him down, the one called Morehouse gave him a slight nod.

Marching forward, arms outstretched as though he were going to slow down Douglas, the creature then moved his leg slightly, bringing a foot forward and tripping Douglas and sending him sprawling forward, right into Sergeant Shepard. Reacting instinctively, Shepard swiped at Douglas with the butt of his rifle, clipping him in the side of chest as he sprang back. Douglas yelped as the wood smacked his side. Smarting, his shins slammed into the ground and he clasped his side. On his knees looking up, he saw Shepard had managed to stay standing and was glaring down at him.

"The fuck?!" both men shouted at the same time

"What are you playing at, Douglas?"

Roaring in, pain, Douglas sprang up at Shepard "You fucking nigger!"

Shepard tried to parry the man with his rifle but snapped back as a fist buried itself in his face. Pete rushed to Shepard to break the two up, with the Goa'uld joining in, Pete forgetting his charge. Morehouse and Monroe though were shouting at it to step back, but it was too late.

Withdrawing the Zat'nik'tel, it palmed the device and time seemed to slow. With a quick raise of its arm, it brought the metal handle down on the back of Pete's head. Douglas and Shepard just began to notice it, when it whipped the device to the side, slamming it with a meaty smack against Shepard's skull, sending him sprawling next to Pete. Gripping Douglas's shirt, the creature finished its motion and placed the Corporal between himself and the remaining two soldiers. Shouting and raising their rifles, the Goa'uld ignored the pair and activated the zat'nik'tel. A bright bolt of lightning arched across the gap and struck Morehouse in the chest. As the man's limbs went limp and dropped him to the ground, it squeezed the handle again and sent another bolt of lighting, this time at Monroe. As the two men fell fell to the ground, it began to grip Douglas as tightly as it could, directing him towards the embarkation room

"Move!" its voice boomed with an unearthly echo. Reaching down, it grabbed the earpiece out of Pete's ear.

As they marched forward, it looked back and saw the two prisoners scrambling for the weapons of the guards, Almost as an afterthought, it shot them with the zat'nik'tel as well.

. . .

Entering the embarkation chamber, Douglas watched in horror as he saw the soldier fire the device up at the metal walkway several times, the lightning arching off the metal poles and railings, striking the men stationed above. All slumped to the floor of the walkway, unmoving. Looking to the right, it saw the large metal door that connected to the barracks. Aiming the weapon, it shot several bolts at the middle of it, where the two panels met. As the bolts struck one after another, he saw the metal deform slightly, fusing a small part of the two panels together. Huffing, the soldier yanked Douglas by his neck and pulled him forward towards the Stargate, which was glowing. He remembered that Earth kept the gate active to prevent people from leaving Fort Roosevelt. Shoving the earpiece in, the creature began to bark at him.

"The Chappa'ai! It it set for departure?" It asked glaring at the pool. When Douglas didn't answer, the creature pulled his arm back, twisting it painfully. Douglas yelled for several seconds, falling painfully to his knees for a moment before the thing yanking him up. "IS IT?" The creature asked again.

"N. . .No, that's an incoming wormhole" he gasped.

Grunting, the creature jammed the earpiece in its ear and began to shout!

"Humans! I know you can hear me. I demand you activate the Chappa'ai! I have one of your own here, make any attempt to stop me, and I will kill him!"

. . .

Out of the corner of its eye, it saw several figures moving towards him, weapons outstretched. As it squinted, it realize that it was actually a pair, the two soldiers it had incapacitated without an energy bolt from the zat'nik'tel. One had a small stream of blood trickling down the side of his head, but managed to stay upright. In the distance, one of the larger doors was beginning to open as well, now the pair were closer and were shouting.

"Drop it snake!"

"Let that asshole go!"

Training the zat'nik'tel on the pair, the creature watched as the two fanned out and moved to either side, splitting its attention. It was having difficulty moving its head back and forth to keep the pair in sight. Snapping the weapon to Douglas's head, it shouted "Don't move closer, or I'll kill him!" it hoped that they hadn't realized that the weapon could only incapacitate with one shot. It didn't relish the thought of supporting the dead weight of an unconscious human while trying to engage with the others. To it's relief though the pair slowed down, then stopped. It also realized that both were screwing their faces in forced concentration, the strikes to their heads likely the cause. The one named Pete called out

"Give yourself up, we've got reinforcements coming in, once they finish popping that door open you're through!"

"Never! I've seen the memories of this host, I know that you people will not kill one of your own to capture me!"

"Normally you'd be right, but do you really think we'd put our planet at risk to save one man? Would you snakes do that?"

Snarling, it poked its head to the side further to look at Pete.

"Snake? You would call your gods 'snakes?' We are the Goa'uld! We are GODS! You should be kneeling before us, worshiping at our feet!"

"Answer the goddamn question!"

"We would, it would likely mean the deposition of a lord, in which case we'd easily take his place. Risk of others is simply a factor of life."

"What kind of fucked up life is that?" Shepard called out.

Shifting its head, the creature peaked out over Douglas's other shoulder and looked Shepard in the eye.

"It is the way of life for the System Lords and those who serve. The weak fall and the strong rise! All it is is a matter of-"

. . .

Douglas felt the pressure release from his shoulder; springing forward without thinking, he ran towards Pete and Shepard, once he was past the two, he finally chanced a look back.

The soldier who had captured him was laying on his back spread eagle, a large, bloody hole had caved in the man's forehead. Bits and pieces of brain and blood littered the ground behind him, a large pool of blood also was forming around the base of his skull. Judging by the way its mouth was still contorted in an angry snarl, it hadn't even seen it coming.

Panting, he eyed Shepard, who was picking up the brass cartridge of his pistol and inspecting it with a small smile.

"Ho. . .How did you hit him? I. . .I saw you get whacked in the head!"

"I was on my college's 50 meter pistol team. I may never have done much sports, but that didn't mean I had no hobbies. I was having a bitch of a time hitting just him though, kept seeing double. Pete, how you holding up?"

"Still woozy Sarge, can I sit down now?" the man asked, gingerly rubbing his temple

"Go ahead, but keep your eyes open." he said, returning his gaze to Douglas.

The man curled his lip like he was trying to gnaw it off, the whites of his eyes still wide. A low booming started to echo through the room.

Boom. . .Boom. . .Boom. . .CRASH!

The metal door to the barracks sprung open as a dozen soldiers poured into the room, their rifles outstretched towards the trio. Above them, another squad was cautiously making its way onto the walkway, advancing towards their downed comrades. The familiar orders began to fill the air

"ON THE GROUND!"
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"

"NO SUDDEN MOVEMENTS!"

Gently setting his pistol down, Shepard dropped to his knees and held up his arms as the soldiers moved in. Still eyeing Douglas, he gave a small nod as he was picked up by his arms and marched forward.

. . .

Three Hours Later

Agent Marcus, Lieutenant Hammond and Doctor Littlefield were sitting in the small makeshift conference room, officially this meeting was to discuss the ending of the quarantine now that the last of the soldiers had been screened, though there was one thought on everyone's mind, and Samuel made no effort to hide that when he began the meeting.

"We got very lucky gentlemen, very very lucky." to which to other two simply nodded their heads.

"Damn straight." Hammond chimed in "Add to the fact we stopped that damned snake from escaping here is only the cherry on top. Still, you're right Sam, even if the thing had no chance of escaping, it could have been a hell of a lot worse, if it really had wanted to do some damage on the way out, it could have damn well almost did that."

"Speaking of damage, how're Sergeant Shepard and Private Williams doing?" Littlefield asked

"Shepard and Pete?" They'll be alright, Pete's got a small crack in his skull, but with a few weeks of rest it should clear up, both have nasty concussions as well, but apart from that nothing much. The soldiers hit by that lightning-gun weapon are all fine also, apart from some sore muscles."

"Oh yeah, do the doctors know how that thing works?"

"Well, so far, they've been talking with the engineers about how this might work. We have no idea about the internal mechanics, but from what they think, the weapon sends a high voltage shot of electricity at the target and overwhelms the sensory and motor nerves of the person, causing spasms and contractions of the muscles. Still that's only a working theory, subject to change, but from our own understanding of electricity it seems to fit."

"Well, that might be useful if we ever need to capture one of these things alive, and it might be useful back Earthside. But anyways gentlemen, before we continue this meeting, there's one thing we need to address. Corporal Douglas." both men nodded at Samuel. From the recordings and the statements taken from Shepard and Pete, as well as Douglas' own admission, they'd been able to quickly piece together what had happened.

"Well, lets get this over with." Samuel said, reaching to an intercom

"Corporal Jacob Douglas, report to the command quarters,"

It took only a minute before he arrived, while he stood up straight, his eyes and head were aimed firmly downwards as he stepped into the room. The trio looked at each other before looking back at the man. Clearing his throat, Hammond spoke.

"I don't think I need to repeat why you're here corporal, and given the nature of our program, we can't quite have a big court martial. We're handling this in house, like a lot of our problems have to be. With that out of the way, do you have anything else you'd like to add on top of your previous statements?"

"No sir." he said, eyes still down.

Ernest leaned forward: "I'd like to impress upon you Corporal how lucky we all were that no-one died in the creature's escape attempt apart from its host. If that thing had been carrying some kind of lethal weaponry, all those soldiers incapacitated in the medical wing would have likely died. Those men incapacitated because you attempted to lash out at Sergeant Shepard. Its quite clear that this creature played your own opinions to its advantages. If you'd kept your calm then its likely we could have brought it to the medical wing and gotten more information about how these creatures live." Spreading his hands, Ernest slumped backwards in the chair "As is, now we have nothing."

"Corporal Douglas, if this was a normal Earth military operation, you'd have been hauled before a tribunal and charged with striking a superior officer, endangering the lives of your comrades, breaking quarantine, and a multitude of other small charges. Best case you'd be drummed out with a dishonorable discharge. Worst, you'd be locked up before being handed that discharge!" Hammond said, tone rising, the Corporal winced as each word pierced him.

"If not for the outstanding recommendation you were given going into the SGI, Corporal, I'd be inclined to send you back to Earth and do just that, but as is, we need all the soldiers we can get. So against our better judgment, we are going to give you another chance to do your duty."

"S . . Sir?" he asked, finally looking up.

"You heard me, one last chance, again because circumstances demand it. Are there going to be more problems with Shepard and his crew?"

"No. . .no sir, no more problems."

"Good, because we've got bigger things to worry about than this bullshit. Dismissed!"

The corporal scrambled out of the room as quickly as he could, the second the door closed behind him, Sam let out a loud sigh as he leaned back and cupped his hands over his face. "At least we got that over and done with!" he said rubbing his eyes.

Ernest nodded "We're going to have to keep an eye on him Don, one instance isn't going to magically change everything that man thinks."

"I know, I know, I'll keep my personel on it, so anyways now onto lifting this quarantine?"

The three talked back and forth for several minutes until a knock at the door took their attention. A medic walked in triumphantly holding up a manilla envelope. Gently tossing it on the table, he grinned "All clear sirs, no infestation in any personnel!"

The three simultaneously broke out in smiles, at least they;d gotten some good news. Calling into their ear pieces at the dialed gate, they trio talked with Professor Langford at Heliopolis. After all three repeated a code phrase that was supposed to be their own unique all clear, Dr. Langford requested that a complete medical report for all personnel be sent back before the quarantine was lifted. More than happy to oblige, the staff of the medical wing quickly assembled a box and filled it with envelopes containing each soldiers x-ray and blood work, as well as the paperwork for the doctors to review. The Professor told them that it would take an additional hour to inspect the reports to make sure they were valid.

After a small agonizing wait, their ear pieces crackled to life once more, in the background they could hear cheering from Heliopolis as Langford spoke.

"You're all clear, I'm using my authorization to end the lockdown of Fort Roosevelt."

The three fell silent for a moment as the burden of the quarantine was lifted from their shoulders. While Don and Ernest say down and began to chat, Sam began to walk out the door.

"Sam! Where are you going?"

"Well, now that the quarantine is over, I figured I'd go down to the medical bay and have a small talk with our two sleeping guests." Unbuttoning one of his sleeve cuffs he began to roll the fabric up his arm. "One way or another, we're going to figure out what the hell these things want with us."