Daniel walked slowly up the steps to the control room, gripping the handrail for support as each step with his right leg caused a wave of fire to ripple up his side. General Hammond saw him from the window of his office and came hastily out to meet him.
"What are you doing down here Dr Jackson?" he asked in tones of surprise.
"Uh..I've just been informed sir. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help?" Daniel replied distantly, focusing with an effort. He was wobbly from negotiating the stairs and he felt sick and lightheaded.
Major Davis stepped out of the office looking serious and addressed Hammond: "General, we're going to DEFCON 3." He strode purposefully over to the General's side, "The Russians have gone on alert as a response. The moment the Asgard ship attempts to land the president has decided to let the rest of the world know."
"And then?" General Hammond inquired.
"We hit them with everything we've got." Major Davis replied firmly.
Daniel's legs felt even wobblier than before. "Er… SG-1 are on that ship." He protested. His head felt woolly and it was increasingly as though he were inhabiting a feverish dream. Only a few hours ago he had seen each of his friends. They were supposed to be on leave. Jack was supposed to be fishing in Minnesota. Teal'c was supposed to be having some family time and Sam was supposed to be immersing herself in experiments. They were not supposed to be about to be shot out of the sky on an Asgard ship. The helplessness was overwhelming.
"I have as much confidence in SG-1 as you, Doctor Jackson" Major Davis replied decisively, "but they left over an hour ago. We've had no communication since, and we have no idea what kind of a time frame we have here."
Sacrifice the few to save the many. That was the type of military logic that, when the crunch came, Jack and Teal'c could accept, but it had never sat easily with Daniel. His conscience revolted at such emotionless logic that treated life and death as just a numbers game. To Daniel, no one was just a number, everyone deserved a chance. Sam, Jack, Teal'c particularly deserved a chance. But there was a difference between risking your own life to save the few and asking everyone else to risk theirs too. Daniel seriously doubted that Major Davis had as much faith in SG-1 as he had, but even he wasn't sure he could think of any occasion when they had faced such a dire situation. But they still deserved a chance! Yet Daniel hadn't the strength to argue. Instead he looked at Hammond in mute appeal.
Hammond looked between Daniel and Major Davis and then back again. As if reading Daniel's mind he said "Let's give them a reasonable chance, Major."
"Yes, Sir." Davis replied disapprovingly, "I'll try to define 'reasonable' to the Pentagon."
For a brief moment it almost felt like a tiny victory, and Daniel gave General Hammond a grateful look. But then the flashing lights on the wall and screaming siren signified the SGC's move to DEFCON 3. Daniel looked round him helplessly.
"This way Dr Jackson" General Hammond said kindly, taking him by the elbow and steering him over to an empty chair. "Sit down. I'll find someone to brief you."
"Thank you sir" Daniel smiled weakly.
A few moments later, a nervous-looking man dressed in a sergeant's army fatigues and carrying a clipboard hurried over to him.
"Dr Jackson?" He asked in clipped tones.
Daniel nodded, too tired and worried to speak.
"General Hammond asked me to brief you." He looked down at his clipboard "Although I'm afraid there is not a lot more I can tell you. As you know, Colonel O'Neill was beamed aboard Thor's ship. A short time later he used the Asgard communication device to contact the SGC and said that Thor's ship was under attack and Thor himself was incapacitated."
"Did he say what type of attack?" asked Daniel.
The man looked apologetic. "Colonel O'Neill was rather unspecific when it came to the exact threat facing Thor's ship." He said. "He described them as 'techno bugs' and requested a large quantity of explosive. He informed us that the bugs intended to attack earth and he planned to blow up the ship to prevent them from achieving that goal."
That sounded like Jack, though Daniel. Skimp on the relevant technical details and go for blowing the thing sky high. He was rather surprised that Sam or General Hammond hadn't pushed for more information – but perhaps there hadn't been time.
"Sam? Teal'c?" he asked.
"General Hammond requested Teal'c be called back from off-world immediately he had heard that Colonel O'Neill had disappeared" the sergeant replied. "When O'Neill contacted the SGC he specifically refused to beam anyone else aboard. His exact words were 'Anybody who comes up is not getting down'. However, Major Carter suggested that the chances of success would be considerably greater if O'Neill had help and given the gravity of the situation General Hammond agreed."
'Not coming down' the words echoed in Daniel's head and taunted him. He could easily imagine Jack casually refusing help, taking one for the team. A surge of indignant anger against Thor welled up. What right had Thor to beam Jack up for a suicide mission? Sam and Teal'c had effectively volunteered. But Jack? Jack had no choice! Guilt burned though Daniel. He should be on board that ship. He should be fighting side by side with his friends. What if he could provide them with the one clue that would give them a chance? What if one more body made all the difference? He could almost hear Jack's firm voice 'Not your call Daniel - like hell your coming!' but if he had the chance...What if…
"Dr Jackson?"
With an effort Daniel dragged his thoughts back from Thor's ship and saw that clipboard man was looking at him expectantly. "Oh, urm, thanks…" he said distantly. The sergeant gave a tight-lipped nod and hurried off. Presumably he had something important to do Daniel thought bitterly. In fact, the control room seemed to be full of people bustling to and fro, all being more use than him. Daniel couldn't focus, couldn't concentrate. The drugs addled his brain and all he could think about were images of Jack, Sam, Teal'c fighting a losing battle against a formidable enemy. Or perhaps they had already lost it he thought with a sudden dread. Daniel had no way of knowing and waiting was agony.
The next hour passed in a blur. With still no contact from SG-1 and no ability to track a cloaked Asgard ship there was nothing to do but wait. And wait. Dozens of pairs of anxious eyes scanned the sky or monitored feeds from space and listened fearfully to the communication channels. Daniel's tongue tingled with the build-up of adrenaline, his face felt flushed and his insides turned backflips. He was too on edge to stand still and in too much pain to walk around. He tried to think, tried to come up with a plan but with no idea of what Sam, Jack and Teal'c were doing and with no means of contacting them anyway, it felt futile. Around him military personnel talked about explosives, fighter planes and missiles. Nuclear weapons were mentioned and the political fall-out was discussed. After a while all the plans were in place and the fevered activity gave way to taut silence. And still they waited.