Chapter 22

Sam waited until the last minute before Noli's oxygen levels would start getting too low for comfort before she decided it was time. Almost five hours had passed, drearily spent making smalltalk, aimlessly wandering around the ship, waiting in silence. The beta waves of Noli's EEG had reached some sort of stable state - not quite what Sam knew to be normal, but it had to be about right. Everything else seemed in order, her heart was beating regularly, a bit slow even, and her breathing was calm - all things suggesting that the stress overloading her brain was gone.

Bra'tac managed the control panel. The rings shot up from the circle of the transporter, sharp light filled their center, they fell down and the white space suit was lying on the floor again. For a moment a deafening silence filled the room and Daniel was hit by the unreal feeling that the suit would be empty, before he got his feet detached from the floor and went to help get it off. Sam was undoing the helmet; Daniel was relieved to catch a glimpse of Noli's face through the glass before they pulled it off, as if finding the suit empty would have been a real possibility. She was pale, strands of hair damp from perspiration sticking to her skin. Her eyelids fluttered in response to the bright light of the transporter room and then opened briefly before falling shut again.

"Hey", said Daniel quietly, "How are you feeling?" Before he could get an answer she was pulled up from him when Teal'c lifted her as before and Sam and Jack worked the suit off. She was limp as a rag, legs folding like spaghetti when Teal'c carefully set her down again. They stood and stared at her for a while, not quite sure what to do, waiting for a sign. Daniel crouched down by her side again but didn't dare touch her, not before they knew. She was lying turned to her side so still, barely visibly breathing. She looked cold - he realised she was still in the damn hospital gown. He wanted to reach out, wanted to touch her - he was sure that if he placed his hand on that pale, smooth skin it would feel like ice. But he didn't want to force the chaos of signals from his body on her.

Noli didn't open her eyes, but she was to some extent conscious - slowly, with effort, her hand started wandering. The back of her fingers found Daniel's shoe. He stood up and was about to pull away, but her fingers apparently deliberately stayed there, continued around the back of the shoe and climbed up his ankle. She clasped the bottom of his leg with weak fingers, and then her other hand started moving more intently in the same direction. It curved around his calf from the other direction until she had it in a more demonstrative than firm grip between her hand and the crook of her arm.

"So I guess that's a good sign", said Jack. Daniel looked around a little perplexed, but as it settled that Noli was okay with contact he undid her feeble grasp on his calf and got down on the floor, pulled her up and rested her against himself. She lay heavily against him and threatened to slide down on the floor again. Daniel held her tight and supported her back with his left arm, hesitated at first but then reached up with his right hand and stroked some hair from her face. She really was ice cold, he could even feel it through his fatigues.

"Jack, do we have anything she can wear?" He was annoyed that no one had thought about it, brought her clothes, a blanket. He cradled the back of her head with his hand. Sam, who had got down to listen to her heart, stopped and felt her forehead with the back of her hand.

"She must be down to at least 35 degrees Celsius", she said.

Jack exchanged a look with Bra'tac who disappeared to the interior of the ship.

"Actually that might be a good thing. Cold is known to preserve brain tissue during asphyxia. I didn't think to check for it, I hope she's been cold all along."

Daniel suddenly sucked in his breath. The lump of ice that was Noli's hand had found its way in under his shirt and was settling mercylessly on his stomach.

"Hey", he said through his teeth. He closed his hand around her wrist and lifted it off his skin.

"Wait, I know what she's doing", said Sam. "It worked." She looked up. "And now she wants quiet."

It had happened on occasion in the lab, when Noli was tired and her concentration wavering, that she had borrowed a patch of Sam's arm or the back of her neck to rest her hands on - to shut down reception without having to concentrate and have a moment of complete silence.

Teal'c made the sacrifice before the others had made the connection and pulled his shirt off. Without a word he relieved Daniel of Noli and adjusted her in his arms with an easy nudge, as if lifting a sack of potatoes. The tiniest flitch of his eye revealed how the cold of Noli's skin shocked his, but he held her steadily. The deep dark chocolate of his hue emphasized Noli's porcelain-like skin and the bleak gown she wore and made her look almost artificial, as if her skin was transparent and aglow. She let out a deep breath, sounding almost content, and something seemed to release in her already ragdoll-like body.

Sam checked her eyes again, felt her pulse, patted her on the cheek. There was no response.

"She's out of it", she concluded.

"Indeed." Teal'c tried to sound indifferent but there was a slight hint of strain to his voice, as his body tried to resist the chill spreading from Noli.

Bra'tac appeared again, accepted the image of the bare-chested Teal'c holding the lifeless little scientist without comment and held up a thick blanket.

"I believe it would be best to avoid any more material to come in contact with Noli Brennan at this time", said Teal'c.

"I agree", said Sam. She was about to suggest they remove her thin hospital gown and underwear as well, but changed her mind. A little bit of cotton and paper, leave it to let her keep some dignity, she was defenseless enough as it was.

"Very well." Bra'tac tucked the blanket under his arm. "Am I to understand your attempt was successful?"

Sam nodded, not entirely convinced but optimistic. "I think so. From what it seems she's finding living tissue quiet again... That should mean she's back to normal."

"What is normal in this case is not like anything I have ever encountered", mused Bra'tac.

"Yeah, us neither." Jack started nudging Daniel in the direction of the transporter circle. "Listen, thanks for all your help, we're very grateful, but I think we ought to be getting back with out little bounty here", he said and nodded towards Teal'c and Noli. Bra'tac smiled.

"Of course." He turned to Teal'c. "Always good to see you, my friend."

"And you." Teal'c nodded gallantly. They gathered inside the rings' paratmeter, Bra'tac saw them off with a bow and activated the transporter. Rings shot up, light flooded them, and they were back on base.