Disclaimer: 'Stargate SG1', 'The 4400' and all the characters associated with both shows belong to people who aren't me. As I doubt that the owners would be willing to trade their rights for some magic beans that aren't in any way magical, this is not going to change at any point in the foreseeable future.
Author's Note: To those of you curious about what Sam's primary ability is, I can tell you that it has made a couple of very brief appearances already.
Chapter Eight
Promising General Hammond that he would be back to give him the details as soon as he could, Jack swiftly led Sam out of the gate room and up to the infirmary, where Makepeace had already been taken, despite his protests that he was fine.
Hammond, knowing that something would have to be very wrong for his second in command to behave like that, refrained from questioning him, allowing them to leave without hindrance. He had not missed the hard look in Jack's eyes as he frowned at the remaining members of SGs 1 and 3, silently warning them against something, and he meant to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.
Jack didn't say much as he brought Sam down to the infirmary, unsure what he could say. She didn't say a word.
When they got to the infirmary, Janet was busy examining Makepeace so she simply gestured towards another of the beds.
Sam sat awkwardly on the side of the bed, wishing to be anywhere but there. Makepeace's teammates trooped into the infirmary to check on their commander shortly after she and Jack had arrived and she was uncomfortably conscious of their curious stares.
Jack pulled the curtains around her bed closed with an impatient tug, shielding them from the stares. "Idiots." He muttered contemptuously. "You'd think that we never saw anything weird around here. Are you okay?" She nodded. "Do you want to tell me what happened out there?" He asked gently.
Sam shook her head. She had no idea how she had done what she had and, in any case, it was the last thing she wanted to talk about. Despite her efforts not to think about it, the events on P7I-467 played through her mind on an endless loop. "You ordered me to get Major Mitchell and Irwin back to the stargate." She observed quietly.
"Carter?" Jack was puzzled.
"You should have given the order to Major Mitchell. He's your second-in-command, not me, not any more."
"It's not important."
"It is." She insisted. "You do it a lot."
He opened his mouth to argue but realized that she had a point. "I didn't even notice that I was doing it, but you're right." He smiled slightly. "In my defence, you were my longest serving SG-1 second in command. Old habits die hard – especially in old men."
"You're not old, sir." She objected.
He grinned. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Carter." He glanced down at his watch, anxious to get back to give General Hammond his report on what had happened before he could hear it from somebody else and to make sure that the details of Sam's performance were kept quiet. "I'm going to see what's holding the Doc up." He told her, slipping out of the cubicle to get Janet, who had finished with Makepeace and was sending his men away to clean up, with strict orders to return immediately for their check-ups.
Janet's eyes were wide when she heard his brief explanation of what had happened. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah." He said quietly. "I've got to go talk to Hammond, keep an eye on Carter until I get back."
"Of course."
Teal'c entered the infirmary. "I will remain with Captain Carter until your return, O'Neill." He announced immediately.
"Thanks, T." Jack looked across at Makepeace's team as they left, ready to follow and warn them to hold their tongues.
"I already told them to keep quiet." Makepeace spoke up, as though reading Jack's thoughts. "How's Carter?" He asked quietly.
"She'll be fine." Jack said firmly, unwilling to entertain the possibility that she might not be.
"She saved all our asses." Makepeace said seriously, gingerly touching his side and thanking Heaven that the staff blast had struck his vest insert.
"Yeah." Jack agreed quietly, glancing back at Sam's cubicle again before leaving the infirmary.
"Are you serious?" Hammond stared at Jack, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"I'm afraid so, sir."
"Are you sure? Maybe…" He tried to come up with an alternative explanation for what he had just heard but he could not come up with anything.
"I was less than six feet away from her, sir. There's no mistake. Carter sent that goon flying without laying so much as a finger on him. She was as shocked as the rest of us – maybe more." Jack added.
"Where is she now?"
"I brought her down to the infirmary. Fraiser's probably running tests on her as we speak. Looks like whoever took her sent her back with a superpower." Jack commented. "I wonder if Carter's the only one, or if any of the other 4400s have one too."
"If they do, NTAC have been doing a great job of keeping it quiet." Hammond answered, his tone sober. "There have been a few references to it in the tabloids - but those rags aren't exactly known for getting their facts straight before printing whatever rubbish they come up with. Unfortunately, I can't very well make any official enquiries without explaining why I'm asking – and I think that it would be best to keep this amongst ourselves for the time being."
Jack nodded agreement, not wanting to expose Sam to any more gossip and scrutiny than she was being subjected to already but he had a sneaking suspicion that keeping this secret might be easier said than done.
The curtains around Sam's bed were closed, allowing her some semblance of privacy and, while the thin fabric did not dampen the whispers, Teal'c's presence had silenced them quite effectively.
Standing – or, more accurately, sitting – sentry on the plastic chair by her bed, Teal'c had not made any remarks about what had happened on P7I-467, choosing instead to relate anecdotes about his son, who had joined Bra'tac in his efforts to recruit more Jaffa for the rebellion against the Goa'uld. Knowing small talk was not among Teal'c's greater talents, she appreciated the effort, and was certainly glad for the conversation keeping her mind off of... everything.
She was grateful for the reprieve, having no desire to speak about what had happened if she could possibly avoid it.
Once the last members of SG-3 had finished their post-mission physicals and been banished from the infirmary – Daniel had moved to join Sam as soon as he was done – Janet turned her attention to Sam, checking her vital signs and grilling her about any symptoms.
"None, I feel fine."
"You're better off than Cassie was, then." Janet remarked, shuddering inwardly at the memory of how close she had come to losing her daughter.
Sam, who had been told the story, was thinking of the same incident, and of another a year later. "Do you think that Nirrti might have been the one to take us? You told me that she's been trying to give humans enhanced abilities. Or maybe it was another Goa'uld?" She asked, unsure what she wanted to hear in response. While she wanted, needed to know why she had been taken, she didn't want to imagine what a Goa'uld might have programmed her to do.
"It is highly unlikely." Teal'c answered immediately. "I know of no Goa'uld who possesses technology that would allow them to travel through time."
"Even the Asgard can't do that." Daniel contributed.
"In any case, had Nirrti, or any other Goa'uld succeeded in creating a hok'tar, they would have immediately taken them as a host, and had they been unable to do so, they would have destroyed their captives rather than returning them." Teal'c's words may not have been the most comforting ever spoken, but Sam found his logic reassuring.
"Thanks."
"Alright, gentlemen," Janet gestured for both men to leave the cubicles. "If you could both step outside and let me do my job, I'd appreciate it."
Both men obeyed, Daniel pausing to pat Sam's hand gently, bending down to whisper a sympathetic "Good luck" before Janet shooed him away.
The SGC gossip mills were operating even more efficiently than Jack had feared.
While everyone had the sense not to speak of Sam's apparent new abilities within earshot of General Hammond's office, while on his way to the infirmary less than two hours after SGs 1 and 3 had returned, Jack had heard more than one person whispering, their conversations abruptly cut off when they saw him.
One particularly foolish SF, who had failed to heed his companions' frantic signals for him to keep quiet, and continued to share his theories about Sam and somebody he referred to as 'the 4400 menace', had wound up on the receiving end of a stiff rebuke from a less than pleased colonel, with the threat of a transfer to McMurdo if he didn't start paying more attention to his duties and less to gossiping about superior officers.
"Colonel O'Neill?" Mitchell, seeing his commanding officer, jogged down the corridor to catch up with him only to be rebuffed with an impatient gesture.
"Not now, Major." Jack barely spared the other man a glance, intent on getting to the infirmary and checking on Sam.
As he had expected, Teal'c and Daniel had not stayed far from the infirmary, and were waiting patiently just outside while Janet was examining Sam.
"How is she?"
"Pretty freaked out." Daniel answered Jack's question honestly. "Janet's doing a CAT scan and getting X-rays and blood tests."
"I was." Janet spoke up from behind them. "The tests are done for the moment. I think that Sam might appreciate some company while I go through her results."
They needed no further prompting and were in the infirmary and by Sam's bed within moments.
"How are you doing, Carter?" Jack asked, snagging the chair by the bed and sitting down. Sam didn't answer. "You know, you really never needed to go to these lengths to get our attention; disappearing for six years, reappearing in a ball of light and now developing super powers." He teased. She smiled slightly. "That's better."
"Are you hungry?" Daniel asked, wanting to do something to help. "I could get something for you in the commissary."
"We could order a pizza." Jack joked. "Do you think that Dominoes deliver down here?"
"Not to my infirmary they don't." Janet said firmly, appearing behind him with Sam's chart in her hand. "They're running tests on your blood samples in the lab." She told Sam. "I've got your X-rays back, and I can't find anything out of the ordinary."
"What about the CAT scan?" Sam asked.
Janet frowned, worried. "I wasn't able to get a clear reading, Sam. There was interference of some kind. I'm going to have the equipment checked before we try again."
"Do you honestly think that it's your equipment that's the problem?" Sam asked rhetorically, twisting the infirmary blanket between her fingers. "Because I really doubt that that's the case."
Why was this happening to her? Why had she been taken and why had she been sent back like this?
"Carter!" Jack's voice was sharp as he spoke her name. He, like Daniel, Teal'c and Janet, was more than a little unnerved when they saw several the objects nearby start to shake uncontrollably in response to Sam's agitation. "Calm down." He cautioned.
Taking a few deep breaths, Sam was able to calm herself and the rattling objects stilled.
Her eyes were wide as she looked around at her friends. "What's happening to me?"
Evening
After the events of the day, Mitchell was thankful to be able to get off the base and back to his apartment and was looking forward to a quiet evening at home.
Finding a man he had never met before sitting in his living room, clearly making himself quite at home, was a surprise and not a welcome one.
"I don't believe we've met before, Major." The intruder spoke before he had a chance to. "My name is Robert Kinsey – I see that you've heard of me." He said, seeing Mitchell frown. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear, son."
"What are you doing here?" As he was addressing a United States Senator, Mitchell managed to keep his tone reasonably polite, but he had no intention of being a gracious host to somebody who had broken into his home.
"I need to talk to you." Kinsey said simply. He gestured towards the chair opposite him. "Have a seat."
"What is it you want to talk about?" Mitchell asked suspiciously as he reluctantly sat down, more than a little ticked off at being treated like a guest in his own home. He briefly considered decking the senator but was able to keep his temper in check. "'Cause I don't know much about politics and I'm not about to help you shut down the SGC…"
"I see that you've been listening to Colonel O'Neill." Though Kinsey's tone remained pleasant, a slight frown marred his brow. "I admit that we've had our differences in the past, but I can assure you that I have no plans to shut down the Stargate Program. Even if I don't agree with all the decisions that have been made in the past, I can't deny its importance to this planet and to our continuing survival."
"Oh." Mitchell wasn't sure what to say to that. The descriptions of Senator Kinsey he had heard from his teammates had been far from flattering but, so far, his unexpected guest was not living up to them.
"I've been very impressed with the reports I've read of your work on SG-1, by the way." Kinsey praised him. "You're just the kind of man we need out there, protecting the people of Earth."
"Uh… thank you, sir."
"It's a shame that Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond can't see the contribution you can make to the program, but then again, they've always been loyal to their own – even when its unwise."
"If this is about Captain Carter…"
"Captain Carter, and more than four thousand others." Kinsey cut in. "NTAC have gone to a lot of trouble to hide what's been happening since they got back, but the NID have been able to uncover some very disturbing information." He opened his briefcase, taking out two folders and laying one of them on the table between them. He handed the other to Mitchell, who accepted it silently. "You may have heard this name - Orson Bailey." He announced. "He's ne of the 4400. I have to warn you – some of the images in these files are pretty unsettling."
This was an understatement, Mitchell reflected, looking at a print out of an X-ray taken of a shattered skull.
"That was Adam Kensington." Kinsey told him. "And as far as we can tell, Bailey did that without laying a finger on him. And this other one, Oliver Knox, a serial killer before he was abducted, was able to influence innocent men to commit murders for him. Two women were killed, brutally, and it was a close call with a third." He passed Mitchell the second file. "These are just two, Major, two out of 4400. Who knows what the rest of them will prove to be capable of."
A memory of the two Jaffa hurtling through the air came unbidden to Mitchell's mind.
"Unfortunately, as a member of the SGC, of SG-1, Captain Carter is in a position to cause considerable damage." Kinsey continued.
"Even if these two killed people, it doesn't mean that the rest of them will." Mitchell protested, though his tone was not as confident as his words.
"True." Kinsey agreed unexpectedly. "It's possible that some of the 4400 may prove harmless. However," he met Mitchell's gaze squarely. "We have no way of knowing which group Captain Carter is going to be in, do we?"
"I guess not." He conceded reluctantly.
"And I don't think that we can afford to take that gamble with the lives of your team, or the lives of everybody else at the SGC, everybody else on this planet, do you? For all our sakes, we need to find out for sure, one way or the other."
Mitchell was silent for a few moments; digesting the information Kinsey had given him before he spoke.
"What do you need me to do?"
TBC.
Author's Note: Coming soon - Kinsey causes more trouble. In the meantime, please review.