CHAPTER 47

"Mitchell?"

"Yes," Indra replied.

"And Vala?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"That's not possible. He can't tolerate her."

"Neither could you at one point, and yet, things have changed, have they not?"

Daniel knew what Indra spoke of was truth. His feelings for Vala had changed. Evolved. Into something he wasn't quite ready to admit.

"But why Mitchell? I mean its not like I would call him my best friend."

"That in time, will change as well. Think of life, Daniel, like chapters in a book. Every milestone we reach, one chapter ends. Another begins. Sometimes the chapters run in sequence. Other times, they end and a new sequence begins on the very next page. This is where you find yourself. Your death and Ascension was meant to put an end to life that you had lived up until that point. And yet, here you are. Trying desperately to hold onto a life in which you no longer hold a place. That is why every time you try to move on, you cannot. You are met with resistance. As if you are being pushed back by a tremendous wall. The more you try to push on, the more resistance you will meet, and the more damage you will cause."

"What do you mean by damage?"

"To those around you. The more you try to stay in a place you do not belong, the more you are changing the fates of those around you. Actions have consequences, Daniel. The more important a path one is to travel, the more one neglects the path, the more devestating its ripples. You have been holding on to a life and a person, who you no longer are. The more you try and neglect it, the more it will become impossible to ignore."

Daniel closed his eyes in slow fear. A creeping nausea rose within him. His head scrambling around an idea for which he did not want to believe.

"This is all my fault, isn't it?"

"It is not blame that falls on you, Daniel Jackson. Merely responsiblity. You're fight with The Ori is inevitable. What role you will ultimatel play in it remains to be seen. You likened yourself to Arthur, and whether that is truth remains to be seen. Your actions, as I mentioned before, have consequnces, and thus fate may have seen fit to make a few adjustments."

"Like what?"

"If something is meant to be, it will happen in one form or another. However, our actions steer the course of destiny and sometimes, destiny must adjust itself against its tides. In this cycle, you're supposed to be its Arthur, the descendant of Orion, The Prophet destined to unite the galaxy in peace under the blanket of True Origin. If the actions that you have taken have changed the course enough, you may take on an entirely new role in this story."

"If I'm not Arthur, who else could I be?"

Indra smiled sadly, "His father."

A bright flash took Daniel away from Indra and he found himself back in his recliner. In a mere instant he scrambled to his feet and made his way down to the corridor. He ran to the place the door had been, only to find an empty wall. He could not return. He smacked the wall in frustration before being overwhelmed by a sudden dizziness. Leaning onto the side of the wall, he walked gingerly until he found himself back into his den. Plopping down hard on his recliner, he panted heavily. His whole body felt like it was on fire, sweat fell from his brow as if he had been out in the sun for hours. He closed his eyes tightly, focusing on the song that played in the background.

As he struggle to maintain stability in his mind, his body began to suffer under the pressure. Kebechet stood silence as she watched Daniel suffer. A pang of guilt coursing thru her as she watched Daniel's heartrate jump to 135, its beats becoming erratic and irregular. He wouldn't survive for much longer. Whatever it was he was searching for he had to find it. And fast. They were running out of time. She prayed that all of this was worth it. That he would be able to succeed. Everything was hinging on it.

She watched as his heartrate jumped to 145.

Daniel's body couldn't handle the stress for much longer. If the nanites didn't do their job, he would die right in front of her.

And she could do nothing to stop it.

oooooo

Carolyn Lam sat at her desk, her mind wrapped around what seemed like a never ending sea of paperwork. She wanted desperately to put it aside and take a nap, but she knew that there had to be something she had missed. Something that could sway the tides of their situation. She just had to find it. Sighing deeply, she grabbed the empty mug that sat on her desk and walk towards the coffee pot. As she began pouring, she was startled by a loud thud that caused her to drop both her mug and the coffee pot causing a loud crash as they hit the floor. Turning swiftly in the direction of the noise she found a small Asian boy crouched over a large, more burly man in obvious physical distress.

"We need your help."