Chapter------14

Daniel and Teal'c hurried toward the lab and silently prayed they would find Carter, but they were ready in case they ran across the second Jarganian. Their escort was a team of soldiers who'd been quickly updated on the situation and been given a picture of the soldiers who'd been replaced by the Jarganians.

They reached the corridor leading to the lab, but there was no sign of either soldier. They knew the Jarganian masquerading as Dr. Randolph was the one now holding Mitchell prisoner, but that didn't quite tell them which 'soldier' they were searching for.

"Dr. Jackson, you need to stay here until we secure the area," Sgt. Jacoby ordered.

Jackson knew the man was right, and waited for the six men to check and secure each of the rooms leading to the lab. He felt Teal'c beside him, amazed at how well the Jaffa could hold his emotions in check. He'd seen Teal'c react several times and knew the man cared what happened to his friends.

"Sgt. Jacoby is signaling for you, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c offered.

Daniel hurried forward until he reached the area where the soldiers seemed to be waiting. He stayed behind Jacoby and waited for the man to speak.

"Dr. Jackson, did you leave any lights on in the lab?" Jacoby asked softly.

"No," Jackson answered.

"The lights are off, but there's someone moving around in there. Could it be Colonel Carter?" Jacoby asked.

"Sam wouldn't be working with the lights off," Jackson advised.

"Then we treat this as a hostile situation," Jacoby said and told the others how he wanted to play it out.

"Sergeant, what if Teal'c and I took the lead and simply made it appear as if we were going to check something in the lab. If someone's in there maybe they won't do anything until it's too late," Jackson said.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Dr. Jackson. If the other Jarganian is in there with Colonel Carter…"

"Colonel Carter can handle herself," Teal'c told them.

"I know she can, but if she's been compromised…"

"Then she needs help fast," Jackson said. "Look, it's the safest way…besides Teal'c can handle the Jarganian if it's in there."

Jacoby knew these men and had heard about the exploits of SG1. Carter, Teal'c, Jackson, and Mitchell had completed more missions successfully than most of the other teams combined. Twice as much if they included the missions where Colonel Jack O'Neill was involved.

"We know what we're doing, Sergeant," Jackson said.

"I'm sure you do, but …"

"Time is running out," Jackson offered.

"If we do this…"

"Let's go, Teal'c…"

"I didn't say it was a go," Jacoby said, frustrated when Teal'c and Jackson moved down the corridor as if they were simply on an errand.

Daniel managed to open the door and blinked as the lights came on. He thought he saw movement near the back wall, and wasn't surprised when Teal'c reacted instantly. He fired the weapon he held as a series of clicks and screeching sounds came from the darkest corner near the desk.

"Teal'c!"

"I see it," Teal's assured his friend and fired several shots, but ducked back as the creature raised a weapon and pointed it in their direction.

"Do you see Carter?"

"No," the Jaffa answered simply, concentrating on the creature that seemed to be trying to get to the desk.

Jackson moved to the right as Jacoby and two other soldiers entered the small room. He used the filing cabinet as a shield and looked beneath the desk, shocked to see two legs move slightly as the soldiers tried to get to the Jarganian.

SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1

Samantha Carter slowly became aware of gunfire and an annoying clicking, screeching sound that wreaked havoc with her senses. Her head swam and her vision was blurred, but she could make out the hideous creature nearby. She moved her legs and tried to crawl out from under the desk, but the creature seemed to be reaching for her and she lashed out with both feet.

"Sam!" Jackson called and heard Teal'c fire his weapon as the creature reached beneath the desk. The Jarganian's clicking noises increased in tempo as it tried to escape, but the shot had hit it in the chest and the smell of burning skin soon permeated the air. It screeched as Carter's feet struck it and drove it into the wall where it slid to the floor in a tangle of appendages and damaged flesh.

"Dr. Jackson, stay back until we secure the damn thing!" Jacoby ordered, cursing when the man ignored his orders.

"Sam," Jackson called and reached down to help his friend.

"Daniel," Carter said, and studied the man's face before looking at the creature that lay still in the corner.

"Are you hurt?"

"Are you…you?" Carter asked seriously.

"I'm me…what happened?"

"He looked…he was you, Daniel…they did something. Some kind of code," Carter explained and stood up, wavering as her eyes refused to focus and her head felt ready to explode.

"Sam, we need to get you to the Infirmary," Jackson aid as Jacoby and his men checked the Jarganian.

"Not yet…there's a command code…he said it would destroy every one on…on Earth," Carter said and sat in the chair in front of the laptop. She brought up the screen she'd seen just before Randolph struck her and cursed when she saw the countdown and knew whatever program the creature used it would take some time to break through their lockdown commands.

"Sam…"

"Daniel, see if you can bring up the schematics and commands they would have used to reprogram earth's defense systems," Carter said.

Jackson knew there was no point in arguing with Carter and reached for the second laptop as Teal'c stood behind Carter as if he thought the Jarganian was still a threat. He knew he should tell her about Mitchell, but if she was right about the Jarganian's plans then he would need her complete attention.

"Did you see what program they were using?" Jackson asked.

"No, but if we can figure out what they were doing we should be able to find it," Carter explained and tried to ignore the dagger like pain in her skull.

SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1

Cameron Mitchell could feel the darkness closing in, but fought to remain conscious as his captor continued to hold him in its grasp. Its appendages were sharp and he could feel blood trickling down his back as he struggled against its grip. The creature had struck him twice and he'd stopped fighting, but it hadn't relinquished its hold on him.

Mitchell could hear the creature speaking in Randolph's voice and knew what it wanted, but he was not ready to be a hostage again. It was time to do something that would give Landry and the others a chance to move. With little thought for his own safety, Cam pretended to lose consciousness and went limp in the Jarganian's arms.

The creature made several clicking noises as it tried to change position and grasp the unconscious human in front of him.

Mitchell waited for the right time and knew the Jarganian was getting frustrated as it released him and tried to position him more favorably. He could hear Landry talking, but could not understand what was being said as he allowed his captor to maneuver his body into a kneeling position. His arms hung at his side and he felt the creature shift slightly and knew it was time. Without thinking about what the Jarganian could do to him, Mitchell drove his head back and felt cartilage and bone shift just before he dove forward and landed hard against the bed.

Mitchell had no idea what happened next, because it was all he could do to keep breathing as pain seemed to take up residence in every inch of his body. Darkness surrounded him, but he didn't let go as a voice spoke from beside him.

"Colonel, we're going to get you off the floor," Carolyn Lam explained as the soldiers moved in and secured the creature.

"Doc…is it…"

"I don't know, Colonel, but the others have it under control and I need to see what he did to you," the physician explained.

"Sam…where's Sam?" Mitchell managed between hitching breaths.

"I don't know, but we'll find out as soon as we get you settled in bed and get the bleeding stopped."

"Bleeding?"

"Yes, it did something to your back, but it doesn't look too bad," Lam answered as a nurse helped her move the injured colonel to a bed in another section of the infirmary.

Cam could feel the darkness surrounding him, but he couldn't give into it, not until he knew Carter was all right. He lay back on the bed and closed his eyes, snapping them open again when someone turned him onto his side. He looked at his hand and realized he must have passed out because someone had started an IV and monitoring equipment had been set up. He shifted slightly, clenching his teeth as the simple move sent pain along the length of his body.

"Easy, Colonel, I just need to clean this up and make sure it's nothing more than surface lacerations. Monica is going to give you something to help with the pain."

"Doc...Sam, where is she?"

"Colonel Carter is helping Dr. Jackson figure out what kind of program the Jarganian initiated," Lam explained.

"She's all right?"

"I think so…I haven't seen her, but from what I hear she's fine," Lam lied. She knew Carter had been injured, but not how badly and she was angry, but right now it looked like Carter and Jackson were in the middle of another 'save the world' crisis. "Now, Colonel, I want you to rest and sleep and …"

"The Jarganians…what happened to them?" Mitchell asked and tried to sit up, but Lam easily held him down.

"The Jarganians are dead, Colonel. I believe Teal'c killed the one in Dr. Jackson's lab. You managed to take out the one who took you hostage."

"I did?" Mitchell asked incredulously.

"When you decided to use your head as a battering ram you must have hit a dangerous area for the Jarganians. By the time we reached you it was no longer moving or breathing," Lam explained.

"What about the other one?"

"From what I've heard the soldiers took care of it," Lam explained. "Now, it's time you relaxed and thought about yourself for a change. Everything is under control and will stay that way while you rest and heal."

"Sure, Doc," Mitchell said and closed his eyes, but he wouldn't rest until he knew Samantha Carter was all right.

SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1

Carter knew time was running out, but whatever the Jarganians had done to the defense systems seemed to be buried so deep they'd never find it in time. Between her and Jackson they'd uncovered several command codes and prompts, but they seemed to lead back to the start. Her mind was not completely on the task at hand because no one had been able to give her much information on Cameron Mitchell. All she knew was he was alive and that both Jarganians were dead.

Jackson glanced toward Carter and did not miss the pale skin or the sweat soaked blond hair that spoke of the pain she was obviously feeling. He knew there was no point in telling her to go to the infirmary and get checked out, not when there was a chance the creatures had done exactly what they'd threatened. They'd commandeered several other computer techs and had gotten presidential clearance to check the defense systems and correct anything that didn't belong there. So far there'd been six programs that did not belong, but none of them could do the damage Randolph had threatened would happen once the program had been initiated.

"Daniel, compare these numbers against the ones we downloaded earlier," Carter ordered. There seemed to be several discrepancies, and one in particular had caught her eye.

"What are they?" Jackson asked.

"I'm not sure, but pay particular attention to series three and four. I don't think they belong, but if we try to remove them it'll delete the fail safes already in place," Carter explained.

"I don't see any reference or point of origin here, Sam," Jackson told her.

"See if you can reconfigure the commands and find another way of deleting them from the system. Preferably before they set in motion a plan to destroy Earth," Carter said.

"I'll see what I can do," Jackson said and watched as she rubbed at her temples. "Sam, perhaps you should let someone else take over and go see Carolyn."

"Later, right now…wait a minute," Carter said and watched as file after file was downloaded to the laptop.

"Sam, that could be a virus."

"No," Carter said excitedly. "In the words of Rodney McKay I think it's the mother load."

"What is it?"

"I believe it's code written specifically for Earth's Defense Systems."

"Ok, so how does that help us?"

"It's not written in anything I've seen before."

"Maybe it's a new program."

"It is, but it didn't originate in any language known to us," Carter said.

"So all we have to do is figure out a way to decode it," Jackson said.

"Or we could simply write a new code…"

"One that will tell this one to shut down," Jackson finished for her. "How long do we have?"

"I don't know…could be days or hours, but the faster we shut this down the better," Carter told him.

"What happens if we're wrong?"

"You don't want to know," Carter said tiredly.

TBC