Two Minds Chapter 3
The briefing room, which had been quiet and dark not 30 minutes prior to SG-1's arrival, was awash with light and thrumming with the sounds of the activity currently taking place in the control room below. Hammond stood by the monstrous window overlooking the gate room, as Daniel and Jack entered and stood by their chosen seats around the conference table, leaving the head of the table open for their commanding officer. No one said anything for what seemed like an eternity. The shock of their previous twenty minutes downstairs in the gate room had yet to shake itself from their shoulders. Hammond turned from the window and strode to the table to take his seat, all business, his face set in stone. After the General was seated, O'Neill gingerly took his seat, but Daniel simply hung onto the back of the swiveling chair with his hands as he looked down onto the tops of his grimy boots.
"Gentlemen, what I just witnessed down there was by far one of the most"he paused and slowly shook his head as he thought of how to continue. "...surreal experiences that I have had, since I watched Apophis disappear through that gate during the first week that I took command here. And that's saying a lot after seven years. WHAT in God's name was that?"
"I know sir, I have been waiting for the pea soup to come flying out of her mouth for the last couple of days too."Jack's levity received silence in return. He went on. "General, we weren't on the planet for two minutes before we were ambushed. There was absolutely no evidence of unfriendly activity prior to our arrival." Colonel O'Neill sat to Hammond's left twisting his dirt-caked fingertips around a soft piece of black material that the General could not identify.
" I realize that Colonel, I was the one who approved the mission in the first place. What I need from you now, however, are the details. What happened after Major Carter went missing? What happened when Dr. Frasier's team went missing? I sent her medical team through on your request, and then we didn't get a response back from you until now. I need intelligence Colonel so I can authorize a second rescue mission for Dr. Frasier and her team."
Daniel was quietly pacing the stuffy briefing room now, unable to keep himself at the conference table. He kept an ear on the conversation, but his mind was completely focused on Sam and Dr. Frasier. He was trying to piece together the events of the last three days. However, after almost 80 hours with little sleep and his adrenaline system firing around the clock, Daniel's thought processes were about as muddy as the tops of his boots. Three days in a gray, cold-spitting drizzle that was just fine enough not to be called rain, had soaked him through to his underwear. Just thinking about it made Daniel sneeze very hard. He looked over at Jack and the General, and with a quiet shrug, gave up his pacing and exhaustedly walked over to the table. He plopped down into the seat across from his team leader with an enormous sigh. He pushed his glasses to the top of his head, and without a word, just sat rubbing his cruddy face.
"Well sir, to be honest, I really don't know where to start." The Colonel shifted uncomfortably in his seat, wishing for the briefing to be over so that he wouldn't have to think about the last few days any more than he had to. He shifted back to the other side to discreetly adjust himself, and needn't have bothered. He was gonna feel Sam's kick to his nether region no matter what he did. A shower was also most definitely a priority. He kept his eyes on the scrap of fabric in his hands, and twisted it around his fingers as he watched the tips of them turn grayish blue, and back to their normal color again when he untwisted the material.
"Colonel, I am a very pragmatic man. It's always best to start at the beginning." Hammond sat forward, placed his hands folded on the table in front of him, and eyed the little piece of fabric in O'Neill's hands as he waited patiently for the story of the last three days to begin.
Jack had a sudden, stubborn image of Dorothy in the land of OZ, putting her red sparkling toe down on the tiny point of the yellow brick road to begin her journey back home to Kansas. He kept stretching and twisting the piece of black fabric until some of the frayed ends began to unravel. In his head, Dorothy mutated into Sam, and the yellow brick road dissolved into the dry, gravelly path that she'd been running on when they'd finally managed to catch up to her. She had turned when she'd heard them coming up behind her, and had let out such an inhuman sound, that Jack had no words to describe it. His very realistic memory was interrupted by Hammond, who softly spoke to him.
"Ahem...Colonel O'Neill?" The General was still waiting for the oral version of what Jack was watching in his head. Daniel took his hands away from his face, and before Jack could speak, Daniel grudgingly told SG-1's tale, starting from the minute they stepped through the Stargate onto PX4-302.
She is trapped. Darkness is all around her, and her hands and feet are bound. A small red light glows at the corner of her peripheral vision, infuriatingly close, yet so very far away. She can see nothing else but blackness, nor hear anything else but the labored beats of her heart. Suddenly, a wash of Not a man. Not a machine. But something alive. He reaches out to her and touches the middle of her abdomen. There is no menace, no harm comes to her, his touch only lingers for a moment, but it's enough to make her relinquish her self-control and she begins to weep.
Then the pain begins. At first she is unaware of the probe as it enters through her back and into her spine. Her nerves are under attack. Her skin feels like it's on fire. Her muscles cramp like they have been running a week long marathon. Perspiration breaks out across her chilled body, and her heart trip-hammers into double time. The probe reaches into her abdominal cavity. She can feel it crawling around inside like an insect or..a...parasite. Her mind is furiously racing towards the edge of some invisible cliff, where a safe place awaits deep within the cavernous recesses of her psyche. She wants to jump off that cliff in her mind. The pain is unbearable, and she wants nothing more than to desperately protect herself.
The slithering sensation winds up through her diaphragm, and her breathing becomes labored. She fights for every breath as she feels the alien making it's way up through her chest cavity towards the back of her neck. Not again. She repeatedly attempts to free her hands and feet so that she can run. She just wants to run away from this place. She cannot bear this again. As the back of her skull is penetrated, she sees the cliff directly in front of her now. The dark torture chamber has vanished, and the blue cloudless skies are so perfect, she can't help but to weep harder. Freedom. No straps are holding her down, and her feet are bare against the ground. She is running with all of her strength, and the edge is so close. As quickly as the probe had entered, it now slinks down through her spinal column, and exits out the same wound that it made coming in. She reaches the edge of the cliff, and leaps.
"Major Carter? Major can you hear me?" Dr. Warner, the other senior physician on call at the SGC was standing by Sam's bed in the isolation room, as she was beginning to wake up from her self-induced trip down unconscious lane. An ugly purple bruise arose from the middle of her forehead from where Sam had slammed it against the concrete. But otherwise, the nurses and medical technicians had cleaned her up thoroughly, and re-dressed her in a white set of medical hospital scrubs. Being clean made all of Sam's other bruises, cuts and scrapes stand out impressively in the sterile lights of the isolated infirmary room. She let out what sounded like a low growl.
" Do we have a sedative ready? Has Dr. McKenzie been notified?" Warner turned to ask the staff nurse at his side.
"Yes sir on both counts sir. Dr. McKenzie and his staff are on the way, I don't have an ETA for you though."
"Are those restraints going to hold her?"
Sam let out another guttural growl, and began to slowly shake her head. Her eyes remained closed.
"Leather restraints are the strongest we have sir, would you like me to administer the sedative now?"
"No no. I want to try and communicate with her. Her scans were clean for any foreign entities, but her blood work showed severe abnormalities, and I have no idea what introducing another chemical will do to her."
"Yes sir, well we're about to find out if the restraints will hold sir, she's waking up." The young nurse pointed back to the bed at Sam.
"Major Carter?" Warner gently laid his hand on Sam's arm just above the IV site where the needle was taped.
With a sharp snap of her head, Sam opened her eyes and glared furiously at the gray-haired doctor. She did not recognize him. Her breathing immediately sped up. Fear clouded her face, as Dr. Warner gently stroked her upper arm in an attempt to get Sam to say something. She flinched, tried to with- drawl her arm from his touch but couldn't, and then an animalistic sneer appeared on her face. Sam let out a howling set of screams, followed by an incomprehensible garble of gibberish.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!! DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!" Warner stepped back from the bed. "LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!" Sam started thrashing on the bed and arching her back in a futile attempt to loosen her bonds.
As she continued, her face reddened with heated fury, and the veins and muscles in her neck stood out visibly. Sam did not take her eyes off of Dr. Warner, and a river of obscenities flowed from her mouth. He looked at his nurse with a startled expression that mirrored hers.
"Should I administer the sedative sir?" she asked him, already reaching for the syringe that she had readied prior to coming into the room. The guards at the doors took small steps closer into the isolation room in case they were needed. Sam quieted for a moment, she kept bucking with all of her strength.
"No not yet. The restraints are holding. She can't keep this behavior up for long, she'll eventually tire herself out, and then maybe we can get through to her."
Just then, Teal'c rounded the corner and stepped through the doorway.
"Dr. Warner, Major Carter has been in this altered state since we located her back on PX4-302. I do not believe that she will become weary without further medical intervention."
Warner turned towards the door as he heard the low, calm voice of the SGC's resident Jaffa.
"Teal'c, glad to see that you are up and around. Please....come in." The older physician took several steps in Teal'c's direction, and they met each other half way across the room.
"How are you feeling? You've been out for a while. I wasn't sure how long those tranquilizers would last on you since you no longer have your symbiote to neutralize the chemicals from them. That's a first for me, you know. Having to treat you almost like a human."
"I am well again Dr. Warner, and I have come to be of assistance in any way that I can." Teal'c nodded slightly in Warner's direction, but he was watching his teammate as she continued to writhe angrily on the bed.
"Is there not any medication that can be administered to Major Carter to keep her from further injuring herself?" Teal'c's already worried expression deepened to one of more concern as he watched Sam grunt with exasperation at being unable to free herself.
"Yes Teal'c, but I want to wait for Dr. McKenzie. Major Carter seems to be suffering from some severe psychological trauma, and her blood tests are showing extremely abnormal values. I don't want to medicate her unless I absolutely have to. It's almost like she's in withdrawal from something, even her organs are showing signs of severe strain and possibly shut-down. But even though her lab work was way off normal, her blood was clean of foreign substances or chemicals. At least any that we can detect." Warner slowly walked back over to Sam's bed. She had stopped writhing for the moment, and had turned her head to glare again at the room's occupants. Her breathing rate had not slowed, however, and a frothy spittle hung in the snarled corners of her mouth. Teal'c came up behind Dr. Warner to stand beside Sam's bed as well.
"Major Carter." Teal'c stood with his hands at his side, in the least threatening pose that he could assume. Sam just looked right through him, then suddenly a flash of surprised recognition crossed her face. Or what Teal'c had presumed to be recognition.
"YOU!!!!! You're one of them aren't you?! You You You YOU! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Sam started kicking her feet against the leg restraints. The barrage of profanity that proceeded to spill out of his team mate's mouth had become all too familiar to Teal'c in the last few days.
"Step back Teal'c." Warner warned him. Teal'c obliged. With a saddened frown he took three huge steps backwards towards the door.
Just then, Dr. McKenzie entered with an entourage of medical and SGC personnel following behind him. The dark-haired doctor strode up to Teal'c and quickly reached out to shake his hand.
"Dr. McKenzie." Teal'c shook the doctor's hand and inclined his head in a respectful nod.
"Teal'c. Dr. Warner."
The two physicians shook hands vigorously, and McKenzie moved a little closer to Sam's bed.
"Dr. McKenzie, thank you for coming sir." Warner spoke to the senior officer's back. "You got here quicker than I had expected." He almost had to yell to be heard above Sam's shrieking voice.
McKenzie simply acknowledged the comment, but did not return one of his own. Instead he leaned closer to Sam.
"Ah. Major Carter. How's our patient this morning? It's rare that I get to make a house call here to the SGC anymore." Sam didn't hear a word he'd said.
"Dr. Warner, let's give her some Haldol 5mg IV, and a little bit of Ativan 2mg IV. I briefly got a chance to look over the information that was faxed with Major Carter's blood work. While I am concerned with the results, I would like to sedate her until I can get more information surrounding the circumstances that have led to her condition." Both physicians gave each other silent nods of agreement, as the staff nurse stepped around them to access Sam's IV line. Dr. Warner was very appreciative to have a second opinion backing him up, and with no hesitation, he stepped back to allow the nurse passage. He turned to Teal'c.
"Now that Dr. McKenzie is here, would you like to fill us in on what happened Teal'c?"
Teal'c didn't move from where he stood, watching intently as the nurse injected the medication into Sam's IV. Curiously, Sam quieted down when the female lieutenant pushed closer to the bed and gave her the medication. While Teal'c looked on, Sam relaxed as the medicine took effect. As she was closing her eyes, she directed her gaze back to him, and met his deep brown stare.
Sam muttered one calm word before the sedation took her under.
"Teal'c."
All heads turned towards the bed as Sam fell back into unconsciousness. Every man's eyes found the next. The room was shockingly quiet again, just as it had been in the gate room after Sam went out. The silence didn't last, as McKenzie started giving orders again.
"Keep checking her vital signs hourly, and give her the Ativan and Haldol at three hour intervals." he looked back at Sam. "No, better make it every two hours instead. If she wakes up again before we get back, notify me right away." McKenzie placed his hand on Teal'c's shoulder.
"Why don't you join us in the conference room Teal'c, and you can brief us on what went on during these last few days. It will help me get a better idea on how to treat Major Carter."
Everyone except the nurses headed for the elevators, and Teal'c remained where he stood for one last moment. Then he leaned over the side-rail of the bed so that he was speaking almost directly into Sam's right ear. With a gentle whisper he spoke to her.
"We will bring you back to us again Major Carter. You have my word."
Teal'c stood, turned swiftly on his heels, and headed for the elevators to take him back downstairs to the conference room.
The big man did not get halfway down the gray-walled corridor before Jack and Daniel appeared, showered and dressed in clean, dry uniforms. Teal'c glanced downward at his tattered, dirt caked BDU pants and his filthy boots without remark.
"How's she doing Teal'c?" Daniel knew better than to ask Teal'c about his own minor recovery, as the stoic Jaffa's pride took a hit every time his physicality was concerned. Without his symbiote for it's healing and immune capabilities, Teal'c was more vulnerable to injury or illness, and therefore insulting him by assuming weakness was out of the question. Daniel could tell that Teal'c still looked weary. Whether it was the sedative from the tranquilizers, or the events of the last three days, he could not discern.
"She has been sedated and restrained for her protection. Dr. McKenzie is going to locate General Hammond to better determine his course of action."
More like restrained for OUR protection. Jack thought as he subtly adjusted his trousers.
"How was your nap there Teal'c? Sleep well? It's been about two hours you know? In fact.." Jack pushed past Teal'c with a yawn as he headed for the steps that would lead him to the observation tower over Sam's room. "..I'm a little jealous."
"No need for jealousy O'Neill. There is the fact that you and Daniel Jackson have had the opportunity to shower and put on fresh attire."
Jack stopped and turned back. He looked at Teal'c up and down, and wrinkled his nose as he sniffed...twice.
"Yes, there is that." Jack turned back around and disappeared up the steps to the observation area. Teal'c looked at Daniel, and Daniel just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. They both trotted up the few short steps to join the Colonel. They took seats next to him, and looked out the massive, one-way window down onto the scene below. Sam was strapped to the hospital bed with tubes coming from everywhere, all which would be hopefully out of her reach when she woke up. The medical equipment beeped and chirped, and the monitors flashed their little blips and ripples in time with Sam's vital signs. How many times had they been in this room looking down on one member of the team or another? Too many to count. Her many cuts and bruises were glaringly painful to look at, even from this far away. Daniel could see where she had received stitches on the left side of her head where there had been a gnarly gash. Some of the blood could still be seen on the side of her neck, but otherwise, she was clean and covered. Bruises not withstanding, if they hadn't been privy to Sam's behavior back on the planet, she would have looked rather peaceful lying there asleep as she was. Teal'c was the first to speak after several crawling minutes.
"O'Neill, did you brief General Hammond ?"
Jack was playing with the little piece of black fabric again.
"Well, Daniel did most of the talking, I just filled in with some tactical information. Did you say anything to McKenzie?"
"I did not. I believe General Hammond will provide the necessary information in order for Dr. McKenzie to treat Major Carter."
"Let's hope so, I really don't feel like going through that story again. But I am sure, that like all head shrinks, McKenzie is going to make us play it out for him frame by frame until he finds something or we collapse from the influx of all the psychobabble bull crap he shoves into our heads. But right now, without Frasier, he's our only hope in getting Carter back."
The three men were quiet again for a minute, before Daniel spoke up.
"Jack, why do you think we found Sam so quickly? Do you think that she escaped some how?"
"I hadn't really had the chance to think about it, why?"
"Well, I know you can't see them now because of the restraints, but did you notice the marks on Sam's wrists and ankles? When she finally knocked herself out back in the gate room, I was watching as they loaded her onto the gurney. She has these odd little marks on the insides of her wrists and also on the tops of her feet. Almost like the marks..." he paused and quickly moved on. "Uh I was just thinking about another rescue mission. Maybe if we focused on the terrain and looked for clues instead of having to keep Sam under control, we'll have better luck at determining where Frasier and her team have been taken. When are we going?"
O'Neill didn't pay much attention to Daniel's break in the conversation, but Teal'c lifted his silent brow in question.
"Hammond wants to send a UAV again, for whatever good that will do, and we're getting some much needed sleep before we move out again. He's taking our warning about not sending another team back through the gate without some more intel on the situation. Plus, he wants to call the Tok'ra in on this one to see if they can help us with Carter or with getting more information."
"Well for once, I'm not going to argue with you about the sleep part. We've pulled all night missions before, but I think we will all be better prepared to go back to Chec'tala after we're rested. My eyes are still re-adjusting from the constant orange and gray light spectrum. Going back right now would probably do more harm than good....." Daniel stopped as he realized neither of his teammates was paying attention to him. They sat in silence for the better part of an hour, the Colonel twisting and re-twisting the piece of stretched out black fabric around and around his fingers. Daniel closed his eyes. Something was bugging him, and he couldn't get his thoughts organized enough to figure out what it was. Before Daniel realized it, his chin was bouncing off of his chest. He'd begun to doze off. Jack backhanded him across the left shoulder, startling the younger man, and causing him to jump up from his seat.
"Uh actually, think I'm going to go now guys. I want to see if I have anything that will help us from the MALP footage. Maybe I can find some references...." he yawned and turned to leave.
"SLEEP Daniel.....that's an order." Jack interrupted but didn't look over at him, only at the fabric around his fingertips.
"Like I said, no argument from me this time."
Daniel stepped into the corridor and followed the green stripe on the floor to the elevators, looking down the whole way. The marks on Sam's wrists and feet. That was what was bothering him. If he could just get in there and get a better look at them to be sure they were what he'd thought they were. To Daniel they hadn't just been marks, they had been markings. As if someone had inscribed words on Sam like tattoos. While he was swiping his security badge to call the elevator, a flash of a memory overtook him, and he grabbed both sides of his head as he instantly sank to his knees.
A strange race lives on this world. He is in his corporeal state, non-existent to the inhabitants of this place. He floats over their cities and watches them. There are so many new things for him to learn about and understand in his new form. These are a kind, and timid race, and Daniel can see the good in their souls. Their numbers dwindle closer to extinction every day. These beings are intelligent, and pass on their knowledge in similar ways to humans. By teaching others of their kind. As he moves through the villages and towns, unnoticed, he follows one of these citizens to a lone tower standing isolated from the rest of the unfamiliar society. The citizen kneels in reverence. There is a primitive language inscribed on the beautiful stone dais, and he has but to embrace it with his energy for the knowledge to come to him.
"Daniel?!"
The memory vanished as quickly as it had come. Teal'c and Jack were helping Daniel to his feet, as wisps of his ancient knowledge fluttered out of the reach of his conscious mind.
"The one time you want to follow an order, and you can't even make it back to your quarters. Hey? You okay?" Jack leaned into Daniel to help keep the younger man upright. He looked like he was dizzy.
"Daniel Jackson, do you need to be transported to the infirmary?"
"No no Teal'c I'm okay." he looked around him at the ground for his glasses. Before he could open his mouth to ask where they were, he saw a dark blurry hand in front of his face holding the round specs.
"Thanks Teal'c." Daniel put his glasses back on and looked at both of his friends.
"Okay, now that you both have had your naps, do I get my turn?" Jack let go of Daniel's arm and took a small step away from him as the elevator doors opened. Daniel stepped into the elevator with haste and pushed the lowest number on the button panel. His friends were still in the corridor just staring at him with mouths agape.
"Daniel," said Jack very calmly, "Aren't your quarters in the other direction?" Daniel waved them into the elevator car impatiently.
"No no no."
"No?"
"I mean yes."
"Yes?"
"Jack."
"Daniel?"
"Jack I need to get down to see General Hammond right now before I lose it."
"Before? Oh I think you've already lost it."
Daniel sighed. He excitedly gestured to his head. "Before I lose the flash of the memory I just had. Jack I think I might know where to find Janet and her team. Or at least where we can start looking."
"So...no nap then?"
Daniel repeated his sigh with some more gusto. Teal'c had remained silent.
"You know.....this Colonel thing is WAY overrated."
The elevator continued its descent down to level 28.