2015

Teal'c and Hank Landry were already seated at the conference table when Daniel arrived, Cam Mitchell close at his heels. "General," the civilian greeted. "Is everything all right?" Getting summoned to the Briefing Room ASAP was usually a bad sign.

"I'm not sure, myself, Doctor Jackson," Landry answered, which utterly failed at settling Daniel's curiosity. "I believe the doctor will be up to explain it soon."

"Doctor? Where's-"

But before he could voice his concern, Doctor Lam entered the room. And then, to his surprise, Jack did. And Sam didn't. The dread that had nicked him before now settled in his stomach like a stone. "Where's Sam?"

"In the infirmary," his friend answered. "She and Siler are sick somehow."

"And Siler? Are they okay?"

"Is it contagious?" Cam asked.

That was his first question? Jack chose the empty chair next to the foolish new guy and sat in it. "I dunno. Let me see your arm."

Mitchell really should have known better by the way Doctor Lam's hand shot out in warning, but he did as he was told. The general grabbed it in both hands and twisted viciously in opposite directions. "Ow!" the younger man protested, more from the insult than the pain. But it did hurt – as much as when Danny Ballo had done it in third grade.

Holding the arm up to examine the marks he'd left, Jack announced, "Nope. You're fine."

"Well, at least there's that."

"We'll check it again in a few minutes," Lam growled. "In a slightly less crude way."

"Crude but effective – that's Jack." Daniel offered up his own arm to the Jaffa sitting next to him to have the test repeated, then did the same for his friend. Teal'c didn't even flinch. And neither showed anything but slightly reddened skin. "Okay. So what's going on?"

"Both of them are black and blue for no reason. Well, no good reason. Siler's banged up from a standard run-in with an elevator door, for cryin' out loud."

"And Colonel Carter?" In response, Jack just raised his eyes to Teal'c's and held the gaze until his friend nodded. "I see."

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers yet." The doctor's announcement wasn't what they wanted to hear. "We can't even be certain their injuries are related, though it does seem strange that two cases of bruising this severe would strike on the same day."

Jack leaned forward in his chair. "Just to be clear, you do or do not still think I beat women up for fun?"

"It's looking increasingly unlikely," she answered uncomfortably. "And I apologize."

"Moving on," General Landry cut in. "What are our next steps?"

"Well, this sort of thing can have a number of causes. We're testing for all of them – vitamin deficiencies, clotting disorders, a number of diseases – but nothing's come back yet. And, to be honest, even if it does, that doesn't mean we've found the root cause. I don't think we can discount the possibility that Stargate travel has something to do with it – either through alien technology, or contact with something or someone."

"We can help with that," Cam spoke up. "It can't be too hard to figure out what they have in common."

"Siler and Sam?" Daniel asked. "Yes, it can. It could be almost anything."

"How? Officer, enlisted. Scientist, maintenance guy..."

"Colonel Carter and Sergeant Siler often consult with one another about their projects," Teal'c said. "And their personal vehicles."

"If they've spent time together recently, it's also possible that one inadvertently passed it to the other. Without knowing when that would have happened or how, we could have a much bigger problem. An epidemic," Lam put in. "That you three aren't showing symptoms is a good sign, but we can't be certain that Sergeant Siler and Colonel Carter are the only two affected."

Landry beckoned Sergeant Harriman over from the corner. "Contact all base personnel – here and elsewhere. Anyone showing symptoms needs to report back to the infirmary immediately."

"Yes, sir." He turned to leave, but had to halt a step for the woman in the doorway. "Colonel."

"Sergeant." Sam stepped past him and stopped just inside. She held a small pad of paper and offered it awkwardly toward the table. "Sergeant Siler and I have been compiling a list of all the projects we've worked on together recently. It's... not short. He asked me to pass on his apologies. His leg was bothering him too much to come up here."

Jack crossed his arms. "Kind of like your ribs?"

"I'm fine," she defended, mostly against the look he was giving her – the one that clearly said she should still be lying in he infirmary where he'd left her. "I'd like to help. I have a feeling it might be hard to narrow down."

"She makes a good point." Cam shrugged. "The quickest way is going to be the others who come down with it."

Jack considered doing a second 'bruise check' on the man's neck, but refrained. "You sure do know how to put a point on things, don't you?"

"I just meant that-"

"Unfortunately, he's right," Doctor Lam spoke up. "As of this moment, we know nothing. Any information we can get is a step up. So we'll gladly take that paper, Colonel. And then you're coming with me."