A/N: My usb-stick (with fanfics on it) is smashed right through the middle. Luckily for you that I had backups. Setback: 500 words.
Reviews are welcome!
Chapter 20 - The Bolt
"And that's how we saved the Asgards asses again." Finished O'Neill. He was recalling the events that happened during their mission with the Asgard for General Hammond.
"So the replicators are defeated permanently?" asked Hammond.
"Well, actually, they are just shut down. They can be reactivated, but that would require an Ancient, or someone with a similar genetic structure to control the chair. The Asgard have put a permanent guarding fleet near the chair, so that shouldn't pose an issue." Answered Carter.
"And did the Asgard tell you what they were going to do next?" asked Hammond.
"We don't know, sir. They haven't told us their actual plans, but they said that they would divert their attention to the cloning problem. But they will have more time for us, now that the replicators are gone." Said Carter.
"They aren't going to be able to solve their cloning problem by themselves." Said Minos.
"What do you mean?" asked Hammond.
"Well, the Asgard are unable to solve the problem of their cloning process by themselves." Said Minos.
"And how exactly do you know that?" asked Hammond.
"The problem lies within the Asgard themselves. Their arrogance somehow affects their bodies. If they are able to put aside their arrogance and their pride and call for help, then they will be able to find a solution."
"How do you know that?" asked Hammond.
"I can see it. But I am unable to tell them. If I tell them, then the problem becomes incurable. They would know what the problem was, and they would try to cure it themselves, while that only worsens the problem. That is why I have not told them." Said Minos
"Wait a minute. Their arrogance and pride affects their bodies? How's that possible?" asked Carter.
"It changes you. The way you think, and act, but it also changes your inner being. In humans it has very little effect, it takes more than a millennium to notice the changes, but all the Asgard are older than that. And because their bodies are more fragile, it 'consumes' them easier. The Ancients had exactly the same problem, but they found a way to bypass it in Ascension."
"Wouldn't you be affected by the problem, since you are an Ancient yourself?" asked Teal'c.
"No. I've deliberately chosen to remain in the 'child'-phase of my life. That way I can ensure to be treated like a child, thus removing most of the arrogance."
"So you're saying that we should treat the Asgard like children?" said O'Neill.
"No. That would only serve to insult them. You must give them time to learn from you, to overcome their fear of asking advice in that matter. And when they do ask, you must be ready for them."
"So you're saying: Be prepared?" asked Daniel.
"Exactly. The Asgard will discover it in time, of that I am sure. They are smart enough to see the problem before it kills them all."
"When will this happen?" asked Hammond.
"Oh, I'm guessing somewhere inside of two decades, five at most." Answered Minos.
"We're dwelling too far off, people. Let's get back to the briefing."
"Well, essentially, the Asgard are in our debt. Seriously in our debt. But it's up to them what they are going to do with it." Said O'Neill.
"So it's a matter of time before we get any news?" asked Hammond.
"Yes, sir." Answered O'Neill.
"Then I know enough. Dismissed people." Said Hammond. "Oh, and Major Carter, Jacob has almost finished his inspection of your anti-armour gun. Maybe you should see him."
"I will do, sir." Carter said. "Are you coming, Minos?"
"Yep. I'll come." Minos said.
"Hi, dad." Sam said as she walked into her own lab and saw Jacob and Anise standing over one of the new anti-armour guns.
"Hello, Sam. I hadn't expected you to be back so early."
"Well, we could wrap things up really quickly on the mission. It was a huge success and the Asgard are finally freed from the Replicators."
"That's great! But I've been wondering about this gun of yours." Said Jacob.
"What about it?" asked Sam.
"How did you discover it? How did you discover the fatal flaw in the energy-dispersal patterns from the Kull armour?"
"Well, Minos discovered it, under a microscope. He showed me, and he told me he had an idea. I just worked it out."
"And how did you discover it?" asked Jacob, turning his attention to Minos.
"By overloading it under the microscope." Said Minos.
"Overloading? The energy required to do that would be considerable, and it would be very hard to notice under a normal microscope still."
"It wasn't that hard at all. Just needed a touch of energy on a very localized area. The energy required to damage a large area would be enormous, but the energy required to damage a fraction of the armour is way less."
"But still considerable. It 's still a lot more that I would deem safe to look at under a normal microscope."
"Well, it wasn't really hard to do. Just had to make sure that the microscope didn't actually touch parts of the armour."
"Aha. I get it. The anti-armour gun does work as your scientists have explained. It is an effective means in destroying the kull warriors. I will report this to the council when we get back."
"You're not staying?" asked Carter.
"No, I'm sorry. This could be a very important breakthrough in the battles against Anubis." Said Selmak.
"OK, I'll walk with you to the gate."
Carter left the room with Jacob and Anise. After saying her dad and Anise goodbye before they stepped through the gate, Carter walked back to her lab. She had noticed that Minos wasn't in the gate room with her, so she figured that he would be in her lab still. But when she reached her lab, he wasn't there.
She walked outside, to see where he could have gone, when she heard an icy scream coming from one of the corridors nearby. She ran towards the sound, and after a few quick turns she entered the room the scream, which had now turned into a steady stream of curses, had come from.
"Oh my god!" she exclaimed in horror. "Minos, are you okay?"
"Well, given that there's a crossbow bolt sticking right through my arm, I'd say it's not going exceptionally well."
"I'm calling Janet right now!" Carter said as she walked towards the phone and dialled Janet.
A couple of minutes later doctor Frasier and two nurses appeared with a gurney.
"Let me see that." Frasier said quickly as she saw the inch-thick bolt sticking right through Minos' under arm, blood pooling on the floor beneath him.
"Are you dizzy?" Frasier asked.
"No." Minos answered.
"Feeling fuzzy?"
"Nope.
"can you feel your arm?"
"Yes."
"Can you move your arm?"
"Upper arm, yes, lower arm hurts like hell if I try."
"Well, I need to run an X-ray on your arm as quickly as possible. Get him on the gurney and transport him to the infirmary." She said.
"Doc, I can walk just fine."
"You're wounded. I know what happened last time you were injured and you said you could walk, so you're coming on the gurney young man."
"You do know that I'm way older than you?" Minos asked.
"I don't care." Said Frasier, who was a bit taken aback by the comment from Minos.
Minos was transported into the infirmary quickly, and an X-ray was done on his arm as soon as possible, while a bandage was set around the wound to lessen the bleeding.
"It seems like the bolt is wedged through your bone, straight through the middle. We're gonna need to operate it."
"Nuh-uh." Minos said. "Just pull it out."
"Minos, I definitely need to operate, the bolt is stuck inside your bone. It is going to be tricky to repair the damage."
"Doc, just pull it out."
"I'll schedule a specialized surgeon as soon as I find one. Let's see, who would be specialized in removing objects from inside a bone?" Frasier kept talking, ignoring Minos.
"DOC! Just pull it out, please." Minos said.
"What?" Dr. Frasier managed to say through her surprise at the statement.
"Just pull it out."
"It is not that simple, Minos..." Frasier started.
"Doc, either you pull it out or I do it."
"You can't just 'pull' it out of your arm." Muttered Frasier.
"Three, Two..." Minos started as he put his good hand around the bolt that was lodged into his arm.
"Ok, wait. I'll pull it out. But it is lodged into place. We need to find a way to pull, without damaging the rest of your arm." Frasier said.
"Can't you just pull it out?" Minos said with a sarcastic undertone.
"We need a clamp of some sorts, and a way to spread the force out over the rest of your arm."
"Just put a big pillow against my arm, that'll spread out the force enough."
"No, it wouldn't. The force would most likely break your bone, now that it's already weakened by the bolt." Frasier kept talking.
"Doc. Either you pull it out right now, or I'm doing it."
"What?" Frasier said in surprise at the stern tone in Minos' voice.
"Three. Two." Minos started.
"Wait! At least put the things in place we need when we have it out."
"Doc, that'll take too long."
"Wait!" Frasier exclaimed as she saw Minos reach for the crossbow bolt sticking out of his left arm.
But she was too late, because he already started to pull. He flinched, but he continued pulling. After several seconds of pulling the bolt out, it hadn't really moved a lot.
"Dammit. Can someone help pulling?" Minos said.
"Oh you can't be serious!" Frasier exclaimed as she came rushing in with a large roll of band aid and several other things.
It took the strength of Carter, Frasier and three nurses to pull the bolt loose. They had secured it with a rope so they could all pull. The bolt shot out with quite some force and speed, but Minos caught it midair.
"How did you do that?" Frasier and Carter said at the same time.
"Do what?" Minos asked.
"Catch that bolt." Carter said
"Pull it out of your arm without so much as flinching." Frasier said
"I have very fast reflexes and I kind of shut down the nerves in my left arm." Minos said. "Now I need sugar to heal it quicker, before I lose more blood. There is a limit on how much blood I can lose, even though I am an Ancient."
"I've already got the sugar. After what you did before you left I thought it would come in handy if I had a small supply of it."
"Perfect." Minos said as Frasier handed him the small lumps of sugar.
Minos ate them, and after waiting for a few seconds he put his wounded arm in front of him, lying over his knee and he put his good hand on it. After several seconds of concentration, he removed his hand. There was no trace of injury on his arm, save for the dried blood that coloured his arm red. He lifted his arm in the air and turned and moved his hand as supple as ever.
"OK, that's done."Minos said. "Now I only need to clean it up."
"Just take a shower." Dr. Frasier said, who was still a bit surprised that the teenage boy in front of her just healed himself in several seconds, even though he was an ancient.
"Will do." Minos said, as he walked away, Carter walking after him.
"That'll never seize to amaze me." Frasier muttered under her breath, as she called for the nurses to clean the blood trail Minos had left behind.