12
"The Tok'ra first heard of the planet which you call P6R-724 approximately twelve hundred of your years ago." Eyebrows go up around the table, as Selmak explains. "Dr. Fraiser, first, please let me assure you that the radiation you detected is harmless. We have tested it thoroughly, and found no long term effects. The torture device, however, can inflict severe mental stress. Waking nightmares. Loss of memory. Hallucinations. The Goa'uld could create a scenario and make the victim live through it, usually involving great mental anguish. They would begin by making the victim feel safe, relaxed, pleasured. Once he was lulled into such a state, the torturers would change tactics. Victims would see their families in anguish, believe the people they trusted most had betrayed them, be driven nearly to suicide by despair—and then pulled back into the feeling of safety, only to have the cycle repeated. No one was able to withstand it, and very few survived." Selmak pauses while Janet, who has dropped into a chair partway through this description, absorbs what she has said. "They assumed their own symbionts would be able to counter the effects, and at first they seemed to, but the effects were cumulative over a period of time. The Goa'uld in the facility began to go mad, see plots and conspiracies everywhere. They killed each other. Eventually the facility and the planet were abandoned."
"But the device is still active?" Janet asks. "They didn't shut it down?"
"Apparently that is so," Selmak says. "It is buried deep underground, in the mountains. Ring transporter access is disabled. The Tok'ra could not reach it or destroy it. It appears to be totally inaccessible."
"How do you know about it, then?" General Hammond asks.
"Goa'uld prisoners told us. Some were those who had worked there, including a scientist who helped to develop the device. Remember, this was over a millennium ago. The Tok'ra have moved many times since; records have been abbreviated to save computer spaces. Details have been lost. After the Tok'ra discovered it, the planet was visited by us a number of times; it eventually became evident that unjoined humans were affected after being on the planet for a time. They became indecisive, easily distracted, irrational, forgetful."
"Do you know how this thing works?" Janet wants to know.
"According to the records, the Goa'uld scientist who created it used some variation of the hand device. He had found a way of modifying the energy output so it would affect different parts of the brain—increase or suppress the production of endorphins, for example. It could also affect the type and level of brain waves, thus inducing mood changes, and a state of high susceptibility to suggestion. The information in our databanks is not detailed. We theorize that the device is in a kind of 'neutral gear' as Jacob would say. It is still giving off energy and radiation at a very low level. That level is enough to affect anyone on the planet, but without someone in direct control, the effects are vague, as I have described earlier—forgetfulness, indecision, something of a dream state perhaps. I am sorry I do not have anything more precise to give you. The Tok'ra issued a ban against going to the planet. Unfortunately it was programmed into the DHD system, not issued as a general warning."
"The SGC does not possess a DHD," Teal'c says, "so the ban was not triggered when we dialed the planet."
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13
"Dolphins…" he whispers drowsily and she smiles, deciding not correct him; at this moment, she feels too good to make the effort. Instead she sighs with contentment and burrows in against his side.
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14
They sit and eat the fruit he found some time ago; it is more peach-like than apple, but she still jokes about it. Juice dribbles down his chin, and she licks it off. And then she licks his lips, and soon they are kissing passionately. Her breasts are pushed hard against his chest and the feel of them against his skin feeds his desire. His hand slips down lower, and finds that she is ready for him… "Oh, yes," she murmurs.
"It can't be much longer," he says later as they lie in each other's arms and gaze up at Zeta, now well past its zenith. "They'll wake soon."
"Do you think they'll remember?" she asks.
Shaking his head, he wraps his arms tightly around her.
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15
It has been ten hours since Sam and Jack were brought back through the gate. In the SGC it is 0400. Daniel is recovered from his allergic reaction and has spent most of the night in a chair between his two friends' beds. Right now he is dozing. Teal'c is seated on the far side of Jack's bed, wide awake. Jacob, equally alert, sits on Sam's other side. Occasionally they talk, to each other, or to the sleepers. General Hammond has been up to the infirmary at least once every hour. Janet has been in and out, each time suggesting that the visitors should go and rest, even though she knows she will be ignored.
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16
Above them the sky has changed. The last remnant of the runaway star's brilliant wave will soon disappear in the west—the star itself has been gone for half an hour. In the east, the red sun is rising.
"They don't want to wake up," she says, frowning faintly. It is hard to worry about anything, when it's all so perfect here, and she and he are together and loving each other like this. But this bothers her a little, nags at the back of her mind.
He rolls over and kisses her shoulder, and then proceeds on to nuzzle her neck, and at last moves down to her breast, using his tongue, which is rough and soft all at once, and she quickly forgets about the bothersome thing…
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17
Jack opens his eyes; he sees nothing clearly, all around him is a grayish blur. Someone speaks to him, but he does not understand what is said.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c tries once more, more insistently, but still gets no reaction. Jack's eyes are closed again. He mumbles something…
"What did he say?" Daniel demands.
"He said… dolphin." Teal'c replies in a puzzled tone.
They send for Janet and tell her what has happened. She checks Jack's vitals, and notes that his blood pressure and heart rate have risen somewhat. "I think he's finally waking up," she says. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
18
They are sitting on the blanket holding one another. The landscape around them has grown vague and indistinct. In the sky the sun is a dim red haze, glowing through thick fog.
They kiss deeply, as if saying good-bye.
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