Chapter 3 - Prior Troubles… Again!
Briefing Room
SGC
A Week Later
Sheppard sat next to Mitchell at the conference table and eyed the thick binder that contained Carter's proposal with trepidation.
The Prometheus' foray into the planet P3X-584 to retrieve him a week ago had proved fruitful in more than one way. The database Carter had managed to download from the lab the NID found, contained logs of Anubis' experiments with the aid of a Goa'uld gadget called Nirrti's DNA Manipulation Device.
From what little he understood, Anubis had managed to replicate his pre-ascension DNA using the device and then combined it with human DNA to grow a clone of himself that would have been capable of achieving ascension at an alarmingly rapid state.
Although the purpose of the experiment still eluded them, the end product, had the experiment reached its completion, would have been a fully ascended copy of Anubis. Sheppard had wasted no time going back to the planet with Carter to seal the entire place down after they had learned that little fact. There apparently was a prototype in stasis somewhere inside the lab, and the last thing they wanted was for someone to let that nightmare out.
But the data however proved quite valuable, especially when it came to finding ways to deal with the Prior annoyance. What lay before him on the table was Carter's proposed plan to develop a defensive mechanism against their abilities.
Mitchell gave a cursory try at reading the thing. He got through about three pages before closing it and started to rub the sides of his head, trying to stave off a headache. Jackson was halfway through it, looking happily immersed in what Sheppard was sure was incomprehensible technical jargon.
Carter sat next to Jackson, facing both him and Mitchell, holding another copy of it close with a proud smile, the only one who actually knew and understood what the file contained.
General Landry joined them a moment later, waving at them to stay seated. "Colonel Carter," he said, taking his place at the head of the table. "I've read your proposal."
"And?"
"And, I'm not exactly sure what an aneurysm feels like," he said, mirroring Mitchell's head-rub motion. "But I suspect I'm pretty close."
"Boy, I'm glad I'm not the only one," Mitchell muttered, exchanging a glance with Sheppard.
"Can you put this in layman's terms?"
"Well, simply speaking, sir, based on the research on Anubis's genetic experiment, Khalek, we believe we may be close to developing a technology that could inhibit a Prior's special abilities."
"Khalek?" Landry frowned.
"Yes, that's the name of the prototype we sealed in the lab back in P3X-584," Carter explained. "We never actually found the stasis pod."
"Is the planet accessible through the Gate now?"
"I never took out the lock on the address, sir," Sheppard said. "It's still diverting the incoming wormholes."
"We'll leave it be for now," Landry nodded. "Who knows what else Anubis had left behind on that planet?! We don't want anyone else stumbling in there to find and let anything nasty out."
"Sir."
"Are we talking about an anti-Prior gun here?" Mitchell asked, flipping through the report again. "Because I don't remember seeing the word 'gun' anywhere in here."
"Well, it wouldn't be a 'gun' exactly," Carter said, her smile wilting a little. "We've been studying the scans of the humanoid prototype and have identified specific portions of the brain that go active whenever Anubis recorded him using his special abilities."
"According to his logs, this Khalek was very evolved and quite close to ascension," Jackson interjected. "Now, we're assuming, well… hoping the Ori are affecting the Priors in much the same way."
"Dr. Lee and I are working on a way of targeting and neutralising those higher brain functions using a field generator emitting fluctuating ultrasonic frequencies." Carter summed it up.
"And my headache was just going away." Landry sighed.
"I don't want to sound overly optimistic, sir, but I think we may be close to testing within a couple of days," Carter said, smiling enthusiastically.
Landry looked around, waiting for anyone to raise any concerns. When nobody did, he stood up. "Oh well, keep me posted. I need to tell the IOA that something good came out of us walking right into a NID investigation."
He left the room then, and Sheppard, Mitchell, and Carter stood until he was out of sight.
Carter dropped back on her chair and frowned a little. "He didn't look too impressed."
"Well, that's because 'Anti-Prior gun' would've gone down better," Mitchell smirked before turning serious. "But I'm sure whatever you cook up with Lee will just 'wow' all of us later."
….
Carter veered off to Lee's lab to work on her Prior Neutralizer while Jackson took off in the opposite direction, keen on getting back to translating what was left of Anubis' logs. That left Sheppard and Mitchell alone outside the hallway.
Mitchell pulled him closer by wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He pulled out the SG-1 patch he had taken to walk around with and held it in front of Sheppard's face, grinning.
"Here, take it."
Sheppard stuck both his hands in his pants pockets because what he really wanted to do would have easily gotten both of them written up for forgetting decorum. He was a grown man, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, and he had a lot of self-control… or so he told himself when he smirked at the patch in Mitchell's hand.
"I told you, after my appointment."
"Why?" Mitchell's grin turned a little teasing. The arm around his shoulder tightened in a half hug. "You planning on flunking this one too?"
"My plans and Dr Heightmeyer's opinions might differ, you know?" Sheppard pointed out.
"She just returned from Pegasus," Mitchell said, walking towards the mess hall and dragging Sheppard with him. He didn't mind. "I'm sure she's dealt with some whacked-up shit already. That'll help her handle whatever curve ball you throw at her–"
"I sincerely hope so," Sheppard agreed wholeheartedly. "I'd like to get out of this Mountain more."
That earned him another beaming smile and an affectionate hair ruffle. "That's the spirit I'm talking about," Mitchell said and shoved the patch back in his face. "So here."
"After the session, Cam."
"Playing hard to get, are you?" Mitchell pouted.
"Nah," Sheppard said airily, hiding his grin behind a bland expression. "It's just entertaining to hear you whine."
"I do not whine." Mitchell declared, herding him towards the coffee pots. Sheppard saw the lunch already being served on the other corner. The warm and inviting scent of the food made him feel hungry.
"Wanna go for an early lunch?"
Mitchell eyed the coffee and then glanced back at the almost empty line. "Yeah, sure, why not?" he said, walking towards the serving line. "I'll quiz you."
"On what?" Sheppard asked, grabbing a plate.
"On your mental stability," Mitchell said, straight-faced. "With my help, you'll ace this evaluation."
The First Day of the Plague
Just as they finished lunch, the speakers blared, calling them both to report to the Observation Room immediately.
"What the fuck is that?" Sheppard looked around, trying to locate the source of the call.
"That's Harriman calling us to the Isolation ward," Mitchell said, getting up and grabbing his empty tray.
Sheppard followed suit. "That doesn't sound good."
"It doesn't, Let's go check it out."
Once they arrived, they were greeted by Dr Lam, who just entered the area. General Landry was already there, viewing the ward below with a grave expression. Through the transparent window, they could see Colonel Barnes from SG-6 lying on a bed, hooked to a number of medical monitors, and his face hidden behind a full oxygen mask. Two medical personnel stood over him, wearing full isolation suits.
"Colonel Barnes came in about three hours ago, complaining of fatigue," Lam said as she came over to stand next to them. "About an hour after that, he could barely stand. High fever, chest pain, respiratory distress. Sound familiar?"
"Oh yeah," Mitchell gave an involuntary shudder.
"You're certain it's the same?"
"He's displaying identical symptoms as the people who were infected on 412," Lam said in answer to Landry's inquiry. "It's a Prior plague. The rest of the SG-6 is already being quarantined except for Lieutenant Fisher. We need to find him…and fast." With that, she left to get back to her patient.
"He signed off a few hours ago," Landry said. "And according to Lieutenant Kent, he went to Peterson Air Base, General Hammond is going to be there today. He's the key speaker in the awarding ceremony," He turned to Mitchell then, pinning him with a look. "Mitchell, I want you on the ground, leading the team to round up our guy, and everyone else he came in contact with. Follow the full quarantine protocol."
"Yes, Sir," Mitchell stiffened to attention, exchanging a glance with Sheppard.
"And you, Sheppard–" said the General, turning to him, "have a visitor."
"I do?" Sheppard frowned.
"He's waiting in Carolyn's office with Carter," Landry threw over his shoulder as he left the room. "He wants to see you right away."
"Sir," Sheppard muttered before turning to Mitchell.
"I'll see you when I see you," Mitchell said, getting ready to leave as well.
Sheppard nodded, pinning the man with a look, asking him silently to be safe and return in one piece. Mitchell nodded back once, sharply, saying the same thing back with no words at all.
…..
Sheppard found Carter in Lam's office just as the General said, sitting by her work table, smiling and talking to a kid of about ten years of age.
She saw him sticking his head in through the open door and waved him in.
"John," she said, jerking her head at the kid. "This is Orlin."
That name brought back a few memories, mainly of a tall guy with piercing green eyes bathed in a light so bright Sheppard could see him through the closed eyelids. Some other uglier and more painful memories followed that one in before he could banish them; a sweltering desert, a life-sucking alien intent on killing him, a bleeding hole in his chest, and a confusing period of time spent floating in limbo, disconnected and lost.
"Um, hi," Sheppard said, frowning, not letting his voice betray the flashback he just experienced.
The kid in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a button-up, and hastily tied sneakers looked nothing but the guy he had met during his last moments, in that other time…except for the pair of fierce green eyes that stared back at him. Those were exactly the same with that all-knowing and all-too-intense look shining in them.
"Hello, John," the kid said, sounding way too serious for a kid.
"Do I know you?"
The kid, Orlin, smiled. "I believe you referred to me as an overgrown Glow-Stick?"
Sheppard winced when Carter snickered. "Well, in my defense, you looked, um, different then, that time."
"I did, indeed," Mini-Orlin said gravely. "I am no longer Ascended. Nor will I ever be again. I have made the choice to return to this plane in the form of nothing more than a human child with the intention of delivering crucial news, both good and bad," he then looked at both Carter and Sheppard, smiling a little. "Before I met with your superiors, however, I wanted to see Samantha Carter and you, to see how you both were doing,"
Sheppard caught a glimpse of emotions the descended kid tried to hide as he looked at Carter. Sheppard had read the mission report and had always wondered whether there had been something between the Alteran and Carter that time they had met and worked together. Even though the look of longing he flashed at Carter was utterly weird on a kid's expression, he felt for the old soul trapped within the body, by choice no less, now here among them with his previous life irrevocably altered.
"Well, you know how I've been doing," Carter said, grinning at him. "You basically gave us the key to complete the anti-prior technology," she then turned to Sheppard. "Seeing him in this form was quite a shock for me too."
Sheppard turned his attention to Orlin. He understood why the Alteran would have wanted to see Carter, old friends, and all that. But, he had no clue why the guy would want to see him unless he wanted to take back what he had given Sheppard in the first place.
That thought made a shiver run down his spine, spreading cold dread all over his entire being.
"Why did you want to see me?" Sheppard asked, his voice faint.
Orlin stood from his chair and came to stand before Sheppard. He looked down at the child who barely reached his chest. Orlin stared up at him with a calm, reassuring gaze.
"Because John, I foresaw this eventuality," he said softly. "I saw what is about to happen to your planet, the plague your planet is about to succumb to–"
"A plague?" Sheppard heard Carter's gasp.
"A planned wave of death and destruction to ensure your subservience," Orlin explained to her with a quiet, heavy voice. "Too many moving parts…Too many things changed and rearranged themselves for the future to have any guarantees."
He turned back to Sheppard, his eyes glinting with the same intense look he had studied him during the moment of his death. "Then I saw you, John," he said, imploringly. "At the time you drew your last breath, I had a chance to fix things, starting with stopping a carnage that I could not force myself to watch as it happened…"
"What did you do?" Sheppard breathed.
"The cure, John," said Orlin. "The cure for the Prior plague, I placed it in you."