Chapter Two

Jack's day had been hectic enough before he'd found out that there was an unauthorized off-world person on his base. This new information had not improved his disposition. He had wanted to spend the day doing his paperwork and then going home to his family and Shaun of the Dead, which he and Jordan had rented last weekend and not had time to watch before now. Instead, he ended up having to stay late and listen to Jordan whine about how no one would tell her anything as she paced in his office.

He finally received a call telling him that the results on the girl's blood work and tests were in, and used it as an excuse to escape Jordan's whining and head to the infirmary.

Outside the cavernous patient area, Jack met up with one of the doctors, Bradley Saperstein. Dr. Saperstein was a really good physician, and, in general, just happy to be anywhere near the Stargate project. In reality, the only problem any of them had ever had with him was that he wasn't Janet. It wasn't his fault, and though they had had some problems in the beginning, they were all beginning to trust him now.

"Well, General, the blood work revealed that she's definitely not a Goa'uld. She's human, 100 percent. Nothing in her blood or scans indicated any kind of foreign diseases or substances. Just some anti-histamines. Her scans also revealed that this girl is a scrapper. She's been beaten nearly to death several times. Wherever she's from, it's not a pleasant place, sir. However, what's really interesting is that—"

"Hold that thought, Doc. I can get it from her personally. It looks like she's waking up. Why don't you radio Carter and Dr. Jackson and tell them to get down here and meet the patient." Jack strode the rest of the way into the room as the dark eyelashes began to flutter.

Jack watched from the doorway as she opened her eyes and cast her gaze around the infirmary. She was obviously still a little woozy since, in addition to being shot with a zat, she had been pretty heavily sedated. She was bound to the bed with the leather cuffs that they had used the last time Carter had decided to stroll through the Gate Room with a loaded P-90 and an alien passenger.

She didn't look hostile, he thought to himself. However, he had to keep reminding himself that the Snakeheads did not hesitate to use children, and this girl could very well be a trap. He had to approach her as such, and remember not to let his guard down.

"Hello, there." There. That was innocuous enough.

Her head snapped around as she turned to face him. The doc stepped forward as well, although Jack hadn't heard him come in. Saperstein placed a hand on the girl's forearm. She jumped at the contact, but other than that made no move to push away or struggle.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Saperstein. We did some blood work and it looks like you are a very healthy young girl, if not a bit undernourished. I was just going to tell General O'Neill here that—" The doctor was cut off by an abrupt snort of laughter.

"General O'Neill?!! General? Ha! Just what I needed: Jack!" The girl giggled madly. Jack's commission apparently amused her more than anything had in quite some time. After only a few moments, however, she straightened up suddenly, all too serious. "Actually, that might be the best thing." She looked at him carefully, squinting with clear difficulty. "It really is you. Good. Maybe you can help me, Jack."

"Jack?" He cocked an eyebrow with his typical suspicion. He wasn't falling for this quite yet. "Have we met?"

"Yes. But no."

"Ah." Jack dropped onto a stool by the bed. After all, even if the Goa'uld were using her, she couldn't do much while doped up and handcuffed. "That clears it right up."

She sighed and dropped her head back against the pillow. Just then, one of the orderlies entered the infirmary with a pair of glasses. He handed them to her.

"These should work for your vision temporarily. We'll have a more permanent pair made up in time."

"Thank you!" She sounded authetntically grateful and pulled them onto her face instantly. She smiled. "There you are. Wow. You look exactly as I remember you. Anyway, how to explain this… Ummm… I'm from… I'm from another universe. A parallel existence."

"Oh. Well if that's all—" Jack found it alarming just how easy it seemed that he could believe that she might be telling the truth. It was so past time for early retirement. Again.

At that moment, Sam walked in, accompanied by Teal'c and Daniel. Katherine froze. Her eyes became what had to be at least the size of the Stargate. She strained against her bonds and Jack put a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down. "Hey. Hey. What's going on, kid? Calm down."

"Why are you here?! Jack, get him out of here! Please get him out of here!" She was trying to get as far away as possible from the new trio. Gone was her peaceful and even slightly comfortable demeanour. Her face had become a mask of absolute abject horror. The orderlies were panicking behind Jack, clearly trying to come up with a sedative to knock the girl out again. Jack signalled with his hand. He was not going to knock the girl out when she was clearly more scared of them than they were of her. Well, one of them anyway. He could take down an enemy without losing any sleep, but a defenceless teenage girl? He laid a hand on hers, only to have his hand pinched between her and the bars of the bed. Jack cursed.

"Calm down, kid! Teal'c is one of us! He's a good guy!"

"No!" She twisted even harder. "Not Teal'c! Get him out of here! PLEASE!" Jack was vaguely astonished to understand that she meant Daniel. Never, in all the years he had known the archaeologist, had he ever expected to encounter someone with such an apparently illogical fear of the man. And this was more than just fear. This girl was clearly scared for her life.

"Teal'c, take Daniel into the hallway." Jack motioned toward the door, and a bewildered Daniel nodded his agreement. The two men exited the room. Teal'c looked just as confused as Jack.

The girl was still shaking. Sam was stroking her forehead, but she was straining against her wrist restraints and looking, for all the worlds, like she desperately wanted to be anywhere but within Daniel's proximity. Finally, her mind seemed to process the fact that Daniel was gone. She looked around the room, and he could see her fighting to slow her breathing. Then, as if her brain was slowly working out some kind of theory, she visually forced herself to be calm and get her question out.

"Jack?" She turned toward the General and he could see, although it made him uncomfortable, that the girl trusted him. He decided to use it to his advantage. After all, who knows what this girl's purpose was. He should try to find out, and if she was going to trust him, then that was all the better.

"Yeah. What is it, kid?" He moved closer to her so that he could hear what she was saying.

"Is he—Daniel—" She said the name like it caused her physical pain. "He's not a Goa'uld here?"

It was all Jack could do not to laugh, until he realized that the girl was quite serious. That must have been why she was terrified. If her Daniel was a Goa'uld, then no wonder she wanted him as far away from her as possible. Well that was an easy fix.

"No. No. Daniel is absolutely not a Goa'uld. We would know. Teal'c would know. No."

Sam, realizing that her question was probably more significant than Jack's violent denial allowed it to be, stepped forward and addressed the girl.

"He's a Goa'uld in your…reality?" She asked softly. The girl's eyes were still full of tears. She looked ready to cry again at any moment.

"He killed my mother. He killed her right in front of me." There were no tears yet. Jack recognized the tone of someone who had already cried as much as one person could cry about a subject. He tried not to let his mind wander to the last time he'd been in that situation.

"Your mother?" Jack's tone was considerably calmer now. If this girl was a Goa'uld, they were getting smarter. This story was getting sadder by the minute. However, he remained slightly on edge, realizing that, if they were using her, gaining human pity would naturally be her first objective.

"Sha'uri." She said the name very quietly as if she were afraid of summoning some evil by mentioning her. "He killed Sha'uri."

"Sha'uri is your mother?" Jack was incredulous. This was getting weird. Even for Stargate Command. He really wanted a beer. And a nap.

"Yes. Why? Do you know her? Is she here?" The girl strained against her bonds again, but this time to look around. Sam's heart broke a little.

"Honey, she's not here. She's… she died a few years ago. I'm sorry." She placed a hand on the girl's arm.

The girl looked as if she had expected this response, but nonetheless, looked disappointed. She nodded slowly, digesting the information before she continued, voice strengthened by what Jack and Sam both recognized as the sheer will to speak without breaking. It was the demeanour of a soldier. This girl was definitely trained in combat, whoever she was.

"But Daniel didn't kill her?"

"My goodness, no." Sam shook her head. "Sweetheart, we'd love to untie you and maybe get you something to eat, but first we need to know who you are. Why on Earth would Daniel kill your mother?"

The girl took a deep breath. Sam thought to herself that it looked like she had been dreading this question even as she'd been anticipating it.

"My name is Katherine Jackson. Sha'uri was my mother. Daniel Jackson was my father."