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Chapter 2: A Bad Day
I tried not to think about the orb for the rest of the day, and the next morning was Monday, which meant work. Another thing my Grandmother had left me when she died was a small bookstore on Sullivan Drive. Originally, it had been owned by my parents. But they died when I was three, and my grandmother stepped in. She took over the family business, and took care of me. And she kept going until she died of a heart attack when I started University. So, I took over. I couldn't run it during the day, so I had the people my grandmother hired run it for me. I'd known them since I was a little girl, so I knew they wouldn't try and steal from me. After I graduated, I slowly took over running the store full time. It was time for most of these people to retire anyway, and they still helped out part-time. So far, I hadn't had the guts to hire anyone else.
I arrived at the store at around 7:00 AM to open up. Colorado Springs was already busy by then. Cars rushed past me as I walked down the street. I said hi to various people I knew, and glared at a pair of teenagers who were hanging around the storefront. They cleared off immediately.
Inside the store, everything was quiet. I loved it here, with the books and magazines, old-fashioned wooden shelves, and a small reading area in the back. There was a piece of pizza left over from Saturday night on the counter. Wrinkling my nose, I picked it up and threw it out. It had been late, ok? I'd been tired.
Thump
Something fell in the back room. I glanced over, my heart I my mouth. Maybe those teenagers were lookouts for someone already on the inside.
I reached over the counter, and drew out the best weapon there-a particularly large and heavy dictionary. If someone was there, dropping it on their heads while they weren't looking would be perfect. Words hurt. Trust me.
Slowly, I crept towards the door to the back room. I pushed it open with my shoulder, and peered inside. Dust particles floated in the air, illuminated by a beam of early morning sunlight shining in through the small window. The shelves contained old books that needed patching up before I could put them in the Used Books Section, and new books that still needed to be taken out of their boxes. One of these boxes lay on the floor, but nothing else in the room moved.
Confused, I walked in, placing the dictionary on the shelf. The door swung closed behind me. I started towards the box-
"Oof!"
Someone grabbed me around the neck and covered my mouth with their hand. I felt the cold metal rim of a gun against my temple.
"Hey, sweetheart." whispered a voice in my ear. It was male, and smooth. I would expect tall, dark and handsome, if he wasn't wearing a mask and pointing a gun at my head.
"You have something I want," he continued. "And it isn't a book. Something landed in your room a couple nights ago, didn't it?"
I shook my head.
"Don't lie!" the gun pressed harder into my temple. "That thing belongs to me, get it? Now, I want you to take me to it."
I nodded.
"No funny business now," warned the man. He let me go, keeping the gun aimed at my head. "Lead the way."
I started towards the door of the room, my mind working frantically to figure a way out of this. It was at this moment that Dr. Daniel Jackson saved my life.
"Hello? Miss Darrow-?"
The man swung around in surprise, and I took the opportunity to whirl around and push one of my oh-so-carefully-sorted shelves down on him.
"AGH!"
Books toppled off the shelf onto the man, and he fired his gun aimlessly in all directions. By some miracle the bullets didn't hit me, and I ran towards the main store, where Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter stood waiting, looking shocked. Carter had her gun drawn. As I tried to sputter out what had happened, two more people burst in: an older man, and a tall black man wearing a toque.
"What the hell's going on here?!" roared the older man.
"There's a guy in there with a gun!" I answered, pointing towards the backroom.
"Carter, Daniel, get her out of here," ordered the man, as he and the other guy made their way towards the back room. Daniel grabbed my arm and dragged me out. A black SUV sat waiting outside my store.
"What's going on?" I cried.
Neither one answered me.
Suddenly, the two men came bursting out of the store, looking terrified.
"GET DOWN!" shouted the older man.
Daniel pulled me down, as, with a gigantic BOOM, my store exploded.
Glass, wood and metal flew out at us. I buried my face into my arms, but felt pieces of glass slice into my skin. I looked up after a moment, to find my little shop in ruin. The windows were blown out, and the door was lying two feet in front of me. The inside was burning, and I thought I saw pages of books jumping into the air, glaring at me accusingly. People all down the street were stopping and pointing. Some were talking on cell phones. Already, I could hear the fire engines in the distance.
Somebody grabbed me by the back of my jacket and pulled me up. I looked up into the angry brown eyes of the older man.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he roared. "There was a bomb in there! Did you want to get us killed?"
"A b-bomb?" I stuttered.
"YES!" shouted the man. "A bomb! Or did you put it there?"
"No, I-"
"Sir," Carter intervened. "There was somebody else back there. I heard the gunshots, and she doesn't have a gun."
The man glared at me angrily, but apparently wasn't going to argue with his subordinate. He let go of my jacket and I turned around, staring at my shop.
"Oh no…" I groaned, but before I could do anything, Carter grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the SUV. She opened the door and shoved me inside.
"You lied to us, didn't you?" she spat, her eyes narrowed as she climbed in. "You did see something."
I looked at her, my eyes wide and terrified. I nodded.
She shook her head. "Colonel, we should go back to her apartment," she said to the man as he, Daniel, and the other man got in.
"Why?" asked the Colonel.
"There's something there," said Carter. "Right?" she added to me.
Again, I nodded.
Suddenly, Daniel grabbed my arm.
"Hey-!" I cried, trying to pull it away.
"Look at this!" he said, showing it to Carter.
"What the-?" she gasped.
"What is it?" I asked. "Let me see!"
I pulled my arm from his grip and examined it. My eyes widened even further.
The cuts on my arm from the glass were healing. Even as I watched, they slowly closed up, leaving completely unmarked skin.
"What's happening to me?" I whispered.
"We're here," announced the Colonel. "Teal'c? Anybody suspicious?"
"I do not see anyone, O'Neill," said the man called Teal'c.
"Come on, then," said O'Neill. He got out of the car, and Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c followed. I slid out after them. O'Neill looked at me.
"Lead the way," he said.
I shivered as I remembered the man telling me the exact same thing.
I ran inside the building, closely followed by the other four. The day guard looked incredibly surprised to see me.
"I thought you were at work!" he said.
"I was," I told him.
I sprinted up the five floors, and burst into the hall. Here, I paused. At the end of the hall was the two stairs that led to my door, and behind that door, in a closet, sat the orb. I was already regretting my choice to not just tell Carter and Daniel where it was.
"Hurry up," said O'Neill, jolting me out of my thoughts.
I walked to my door, fumbled with the key, and inserted it into the lock. I turned it until I heard the click, and opened the door.
My apartment looked exactly as I had left it under half an hour ago. My dishes were on the counter from breakfast, and the coffee was still somewhat warm in the pot. I hurried through the kitchen into my room. O'Neill looked at the broken skylight.
"Something go through that?" he asked. I didn't answer, instead crossed the room to my closet. Hesitantly, I opened the door.
"There," I said, pointing at the orb. "It fell through the skylight Saturday night. It was…lit up, like a star, but it stopped after I…" my voice trailed off.
"After you what?" asked O'Neill sharply.
"I touched it," I said. "And then…it shocked me, and threw me across the room."
"Jack," We all turned to look at Daniel, who was standing at me desk, staring at a piece of paper. "Look at this."
O'Neill crossed over to him, and took the paper. He looked up at me.
"Where did you get this?" he asked, holding it up. It was the seven symbols.
"I drew it," I said. "I just-" I hesitated before continuing. "I think they were in there," I pointed at the orb. "And when I touched it, they went into me."
I looked at all of them to see what they thought of this. Teal'c looked at O'Neill.
"It is possible the sphere is some kind of Ancient device," he said. "Like the one that you met with, O'Neill."
"Orb," I said. Teal'c looked at me. "It's an orb," I shrugged. Teal'c raised his eyebrows.
"That thing's different," said O'Neill. "I don't see a face suctiony thing there-"
"We should bring it back to Cheyenne Mountain, anyway," said Carter. "I'd like to study it, sir."
O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "It could be dangerous, Carter," he grunted.
"It's safe," I said, not really knowing how I knew that.
O'Neill looked at me, frowning.
"We shouldn't leave it here, sir," said Carter. "Whatever it is, it came from outer space. I think it's safest to take it back."
O'Neill nodded. "Ok, pack it up, then."
Carter and Teal'c moved past me to get the orb. As they carried it out of the room, Daniel looked at me.
"Jack," he said. "What about her?"
O'Neill considered me for a moment.
"She's already in over her head," pointed out Daniel. "And if she's right, there might be more stuff in her mind. Or maybe she's the only one who can work that orb."
O'Neill cocked his head to one side, still looking at me. Finally, he sighed.
"Fine," he said. "Bring her along."
"What if I don't want to go?" I challenged.
"Then the next time some guy tries to blow you up, you'll find yourself at the Pearly Gates," said O'Neill. "Now, Come on." He left.
"Where are we going?" I asked Daniel as we started after him.
"Cheyenne Mountain Complex," he replied.
"What's there?"
"You'll see."