Chapter 9—Cliffie Warning! (I'm so mean!)
"This isn't the Twilight Zone," Daniel muttered, pulling away from his 'parents.' "This has gone beyond all boundaries of weirdness as we know them."
"Well, that's bad," Jack said. "If it's gone that far…"
His team members looked at him.
"I was just trying to lighten the mood," he said quickly. "I realize the situation is serious, so I…okay, shutting up now."
Daniel turned to his parents, looking at them very thoughtfully. He seemed to be thinking of quite a bit, but his next question surprised everyone. "Do you have pen and paper here?"
"Pen and paper?" Melburn said, surprised. "Of course. There are writing materials in the cabinet there."
Daniel moved to a large cabinet and opened it, poked around inside for a moment, and pulled out a pile of sheets, a bottle of ink, and a stylus. He turned around and saw everyone—even Claire and Melburn—staring at him.
"Whatcha doin'?" Jack asked, not understanding just what Daniel was doing and feeling his curiosity bug eating him alive.
"Um, not sure yet," Daniel admitted. "I'm going to go to my room and get started on this, you guys can stay here or come with me if you want, but I'm going to need quiet."
"Well, then, I'll stay here," Jack said quickly. "You know me, unless I'm fishing, I have trouble keeping quiet. Teal'c, would you mind going with Daniel?"
"We wouldn't harm him, Colonel O'Neill," Melburn said, sounding a trifle insulted.
"Yeah, but you have kidnapped him," Jack countered. "We're not leaving him alone. Got it?"
Neither of them said anything further, but it was clear that they understood.
"I think I'll stay here," Sam said. "I have a ton of questions to ask…um, Claire and Melburn."
"All right. See you guys later," Daniel said. "Try to avoid bloodshed, okay?"
Daniel left the room, followed by Teal'c, and that left Jack, Sam, Claire, and Melburn. There was a very intense silence until Jack spoke. "Anyone feel like a game of Scrabble?"
--
Daniel headed straight to his room, closely followed by Teal'c. He had no idea what he was hoping to accomplish, but perhaps by putting it all down on paper he'd be able to think about things more clearly. Often, it helped him to write things down. Just seeing things in black and white helped him to think, and God knew that he needed all the aids to clear thinking he could get in this situation. There was something he wasn't seeing, and he had to find out what it was. As soon as he got in the door, Daniel set himself up a work station using a chair and the top of a low bookshelf for a desk. Teal'c left him alone by doing kel'no'reem in a corner. Daniel sat down and started making notes on everything he could remember learning about this place and the people, as well as what was 'different' or 'off' about Claire and Melburn. Also, he wrote down everything that did not seem to have a clear explanation, such as why they didn't want to lose him or allow him to go away. He had a theory that once he had everything written down, a pattern might emerge that would lead him to some explanations.
Hopefully.
--
"What is Scrabble?" Melburn asked, surprised.
"Ah, it's a word game," Jack explained. "It's really more Daniel's thing, but since you two are so much like Daniel…Well, unfortunately, I don't have a set with me. Perhaps we can chat instead?"
"Chat? About what?" Claire asked after offering them seats.
"Well, Carter, you said you had questions?"
"I did," Sam assured her CO as she sat down. "First of all, how did you block our transporters?"
Melburn smiled as Claire shook her head. "I don't think you'd understand," she said. "It's very complicated."
"Well, try me," Sam said, keeping her patience as well as she could. "I'm a physicist."
"What makes you think we'd answer your questions?" Melburn wanted to know. "After all, you've come to take our son away from us."
Jack got back to his feet, biting his lips to keep from shouting. "Okay! First of all, he's not your son. His parents died when he was eight years old. Second of all, you've got no right to keep him here! This is kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment and half a dozen other things that I don't know the names for! As soon as he's ready to go and as soon as we can find a way to get out of here, we are gone. Understand?"
Melburn actually chuckled, and Jack wondered how much prison time he'd get for killing a sarcastic alien. "What's so funny?" he demanded.
"Colonel, we can block your transporters. We can keep you from leaving these caves. We can keep the Stargate from dialing. It will be very hard for you all to leave if none of those avenues of escape are open to you," Melburn explained patiently.
"Well, we're good at getting stupid ideas supposedly 'more advanced' beings have trouble understanding," Jack snapped. "We'll think of something."
This time, it was Claire who seemed amused, and it was Sam who almost lost her patience. "Okay, what's funny this time?"
"I'm sorry, it wouldn't be apparent to you," Claire apologized. "We took human form to go to your planet. Doing so has given us understanding of how humans think, but you have no such advantage to understanding us."
"Oh. Meaning that you just might possibly be prepared for anything we could cook up," Jack muttered. "Okay, I can see that. Great. Just one more mental bridge we'll have to cross when we come to it." He looked around the room, contemplating the re-decorating he'd do if the place were his. The Batcave look just wasn't working.
"About the transporters," Sam said, returning to her topic.
Claire nodded. "The simplest explanation was that we made them think differently."
Sam felt her eyebrows go up toward her hair. "Think? Differently?"
"We made them believe they had fulfilled their mission when they hadn't," Melburn clarified.
"Okay, I understood every word they said, but I don't understand what the heck they mean," Jack said, tossing a throw pillow up and down. "That's a first. I understand the words, but not the meaning."
Sam stayed silent, but she had to admit to herself that she was in about the same position as Colonel O'Neill. She didn't see what they were driving at. "Think differently. You mean you re-programmed them to do something different?"
Claire shook her head. "Not really. Re-programming means that they would actually do something different and their protocols would show what it was they were to do. When we influenced your transporters we didn't have to touch the protocols."
Jack kept playing with the pillow while Sam put a firm hold on her frustration. "Okay, you managed to make them do something that was outside their programming—to do something that they hadn't been given the commands for. I get that. How did you do that?"
"We made them think differently."
With Herculean effort, Sam managed to resist the urge to throw something. "How did you make them think differently?"
"We told them what it was we wanted them to do," Melburn said. "It is…like re-programming in the sense that we told them to do something different, but unlike it in the fact that we didn't re-program them. It is more like we asked a favor, and they did it."
Sam blinked. "These are non-sentient machines. The only things they're able to do are what they've been programmed to do. How can they do a favor for someone?"
Claire sighed. "I told you that you wouldn't understand. Not really. You have the general idea of it with your understanding of 're-programming,' but I think that we are expressing ourselves in a way you aren't grasping."
"How so?" Jack asked, setting the cushion aside.
"Think of your simple dimensions," Melburn said. "A single-dimensioned figure is a line consisting of infinite points. A two-dimensioned figure would be a squared line, forming the geometric figure known as a square. A three-dimensioned figure would be a squared square, forming a cube."
"Okay, I've got that," Jack said, wondering how this little lecture had anything to do with what they had been talking about. "Line, square, cube."
"The fourth-dimensioned figure would be a squared cube, which is another way to say 'time' or 'the progression of events.' The fifth-dimensioned figure would be the squared cube moving from one location to another without traversing the distance between the two points in real time. That is how your ship's engines work."
Jack blinked, and Sam nodded. "Hyperspace," they said together.
"Exactly," Claire said, taking up the lecture. "The sixth-dimensioned figure would be the cube in communication with all other figures regardless of shape, function, or origin since that dimension is pure communication. That is how we were able to ask a favor of your transporters."
"What happened to the cubes?" Jack asked.
"The cubes were just examples," Sam said, sounding thoughtful. "Communication…you communicated directly with our ship's transporters?"
"Yes."
"And…they were able to directly communicate back with you?" Jack said, surprised.
"Well, they did what we asked them. That's as good as communication," Melburn offered.
"Uh-huh. So, this communication…Is it one-sided?"
Claire seemed confused. "What do you mean?"
"Can you communicate with our people directly without us being aware of it?" Jack persisted.
"It can be that way, yes," Claire said, nodding.
Sam understood what the colonel was saying. "How about us communicating with you when we're not aware of it?"
"Even now you're communicating and you're not aware of it," Melburn said, sounding like a teacher who was proud of his prize students.
"So, you're reading our minds?" Jack asked, just to clarify. At Melburn's nod he continued. "Okay, so that's how you were able to find out so much about Daniel. How are you able to make him go to sleep? How are you slipping him that drug?"
"It's another form of communication," Claire told them. "It works on the same principle as pheromones, except the 'drug' is formed within Daniel's brain from the direction of our 'pheromones.'"
"So, you're giving his brain the instructions to make its own drug through some kind of chemicals that waft off of you?" Jack asked, confused. "How come we're not all affected?"
"The 'chemicals,' as you called them, are keyed to Daniel specifically."
Sam had a sudden suspicion. "Have you told Daniel any of this?"
"He hasn't asked," Melburn said. "We would have told him if he'd asked, but so far he's only asked what we want with him, and not how we do what we do."
"Of course," Jack muttered. "So, how'd you make him leave the infirmary with you? Is that another form of communication?"
"We communicated not with Daniel, but with his body. It was the same form of communication as making the 'drug,' but it had a different result," Claire said. "Otherwise, we would have had a very hard time getting him to go with us."
"Yeah sure, you betcha," Jack said. "How come you're telling us all this? Aren't you worried we'll find some way around this stuff?"
"Not really," Claire said. "We can influence your bodies, but you're not really able to do the same to us. At least, not consciously and not with direction."
"Are you going to tell Daniel all this?" Jack asked.
For the first time, they seemed uneasy. "What if he's angry with us over it?"
"He's already angry," Sam pointed out. "He's angry that you've kidnapped him and are keeping him here and that you've not been answering his questions. What did you two expect?"
"We were hoping…that in time…he'd come to accept us and be happy," Melburn said.
"Oh, come on!" Jack snapped. "Tell the truth, huh?"
"That is the truth, Colonel!" Claire snapped back. "Why else would we go through all this trouble?"
Jack almost snapped again, but his brain was one step ahead of him. Why else? Well, there really was no sensible 'why else.' What they were saying had to be the truth, crazy as it sounded. Hadn't some Hokum guy spouted the theory that the simplest answer was the best one? Or wait, had it been the craziest answer? Hmm. His head was starting to hurt from all this thinking!
"I think that you should tell him," Sam said quietly. "If you want him to listen to you, start by telling him all this, and then answer his questions, whatever they are. Be completely honest with him. Otherwise, he's just going to keep trying to leave you, and he's not going to accept the platitudes you're giving him. Eventually, he'll stop listening to you altogether, and then you'll have a really hard time getting through to him."
"I can't believe I'm going to say this after all the trouble you two have given us, but I agree with Carter. Daniel…he very rarely holds a grudge. I don't think that he'll hold one against you. At least, I don't think so. Now, it could be me talking to you or you making me say this, but try apologizing, and try telling him what you've told us. Ten to one he'll listen."
--
Daniel rubbed his eyes, unknowingly leaving smudge marks on the bridge of his nose. How long had he been working? He had no idea. Teal'c was still doing kel'no'reem in the corner, and there wasn't a clock anywhere in the caves, so he couldn't really tell what time it was.
He glanced down at his notes, wondering if he was far too close to the problem to make sense of it. He'd covered sheets and sheets with lots of notes about every facet of the situation, but he hadn't learned very much or come to any new conclusions. In fact, he was beginning to feel even more confused than he had been earlier. He read through his notes again for the umpteenth time and began to jot down main ideas on another sheet, hoping that he would be able to catch the gist of the problem that way. He finished that sheet and looked it over, hoping to see something new.
Parents Back From the Dead
--Alberich said that it's a blessing from the elves—how is it a blessing? I have them back again?
--Elves—are they something more than a story? Powerful alien race who decided to protect the people here? (Reminds me of the Asgard.) This would explain how they do the things they do. At least, it could be one reason.
--Why don't they want me to leave? They appear as my parents since I can relate to them that way. What's so important about me staying here? They CAN'T really want me to stay just because they like me!
He stared down at his latest page of notes, feeling exhausted. That one sheet was a pathetic result for that large amount of work. He sighed, capped the ink bottle, and wandered into the bathroom to splash some water on his face. He had his face buried in a towel when he heard someone knock on his door. "Come in!" he called, hoping it was Jack.
"Daniel?"
At the sound of Melburn's voice, Daniel had to fight down a sudden urge to slam the bathroom door in the guy's face. Claire was with him, and Daniel had a feeling that he was about to learn something at long last.
"Could we talk with you, Danny?" Claire asked.
"About?"
Melburn put an arm around his shoulders and hugged. "About everything, scout. We're going to tell you the truth."